


Heroes of Flowers Phase One: The Ferns and Nerds

by TheSparklyKitten



Series: Heroes of Flowers [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Angst, Callbacks to the movie, Canon Divergence, Comedy, Family, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Humor, I cannot believe I used that tag, I have no idea what I'm doing (laughs), I love baymax but at the same time how do you write him, I'm trying to do foreshadowing and it's hard, Karmi is mentioned in chapter 3 a little bit, Let the text shenanigans begin, Other, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Sibling Bonding, Textfic shennanigans, Unrequited Crush, adopted family, bc there's more love than romantic and i wish more stories focused on that please, even more forshadowing, extreme cooking competitions, forshadowing, interrupted parties, mentions of abuse, more textfic shenanigans, no beta we die like men, not every relationship tagged in relationships is romantic btw, seriously why are so many parties interrupted, there is a beta reader now, this baby can hold so much love in it, word of warning I'm still new to this site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 57
Words: 237,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSparklyKitten/pseuds/TheSparklyKitten
Summary: Hiro Hamada had found himself in a pickle, getting betrayed by Yama and getting thrown into a cell was not what he wanted to today. But he didn't expect another person in the cell besides him and Fred.Big Hero 6 the Series but with some OC's, some craziness, and that good old pinch of friendship
Relationships: Bob Aken & OC, Hiro Hamada & Karmi, Hiro Hamada & Original Character(s), Honey Lemon/Go Go Tomago, Juniper & Original Female Character(s), Momakase & OC, Wasabi-No Ginger & OC
Series: Heroes of Flowers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555597
Comments: 38
Kudos: 22





	1. Prolouge: (Baymax Returns) Ari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro and Fred find another friend.

Hiro did not expect things to go so wrong so fast.

Get the paperweight, trade it to Yama to get Baymax's skeleton back, then steal it back after the trade is done. He didn't expect Yama to break the deal, and now his goons were shoving him and Fred into a cell.

He shouldn't have gotten Fred involved in the first place, but he needed someone to help him out of the mess he dug himself into.

Speaking of Fred...

"Oww!" They both had been roughly thrown in. Fred was rubbing his arm in pain and Hiro banged on the door with little effort.

"Well, great." He huffed, taking a look at the situation they were both in. "No windows, no air ducts, and one locked door." But before he could do his next step, Fred tapped his shoulder.

"Uh Hiro?" The comic fan pointed to a corner in the room where a small shape was unmoving. He squinted to get a better look, and could only gasp sharply at the sight.

A small girl, perhaps younger than him was curled up in the corner of the room. The girl had tannish-brown skin and fluffy dark chocolate hair that reached her shoulders. She wore a thick black sweater with cobalt blue stripes, her leggings a darker blue color and her shoes were black flats. She stirred, getting up from the floor and Hiro noted the rosemary flower pin in her hair.

"Hello?" He called her. She yelped, and whipped her head around to spot him. Her widened eyes were a deep ocean blue.

"Who are you?" Her soft voice was hoarse and shaky. "Did the scary men put you in here too?"

"Yeah they did!" Fred exclaimed. "We were trying to get Naked Baymax back from Yama and even after we gave him the paperweight, he double crossed us! Which is a typical villain move!" His voice was loud enough to startle the poor girl, so he got a glare from Hiro. "Sorry."

The third-part flashed him a "what the heck, dude?" look, a look Hiro himself was familiar with. "I'm Hiro, and this is Fred." He introduced them.

"I'm Ariel… or Ari." She smiled a little. "At least I'm not alone in this cell anymore."  
"Well it won't be for long because we're busting out of here." Hiro went to the lock on the door, trying to come up with a way out. _Look for another angle..._ and then he found one.

Fred cracked a grin. "So it looks like we have to break out of a super secure high-tech safe room, Awesome!"

"How do we do that?" Ari questioned, neither of them noticing Hiro doing something to the door's lock panel.

"We could do what Dirt Dingly did when he was trapped in the dungeon of Doctor Slaughter!"  
"What did he do?"

"Get this! He factored a key out of a stale cracker and a single strand of his own hair!"

Ari placed her hands over her hair in a protective manner. "You're not using my hair." She frowned, there was a beep as Hiro managed to reroute the door's wires to open it.

"Or we could do that." Fred pouted, a little bummed he wouldn't get to test his idea out.

"C'mon." Hiro gestured for them to follow, but Ari hesitated.

"Wait? I'm coming too?" She looked confused. He frowned, did she think they would just leave her in the clutches of Yama? Who knows what harm could happen to her? It wasn't the right thing to do.

"Yes." Hiro gestured again. "We're _all_ getting out of here."

* * *

And so all three of them were wandering the halls of Yama's base, Hiro just wanted to grab Baymax's skeleton, the paperweight, and book it.

"So after we get Naked Baymax back, what's our exit strategy?" Fred asked him as they tiptoed through the halls. "You thinkin 'fists? Something other than fists?"  
"I'm thinking we run." Hiro answered, they were in no condition to fight any of Yama's minions.

"So feet, we're going with feet." They rounded a corner, Ari's yelp alerted them to the minion in front.

"Where do you think you're going?" The man sneered.

"And you're sure not fists?"  
Hiro paled. "Feet Fred! Fast!" They bolted away, only to bump headfirst into another one. Hiro tried running back the way they came only for the other minion to grab him and Ari, and the other grabbed Fred.

"C'mon, let's take these three to Yama." As they were being dragged away, Hiro could hear Ari whimpering in fear. The girl was sniffling, her eyes watery and panting heavily.

If he had a sharp sense of smell like a canine, Hiro would have smelled her fear.

* * *

"When I said I wanted them locked up, I MEAN IT!" The bot-fighting ringleader was livid that his prisoners had escaped. Two of his minions were preventing Hiro and Fred from escaping, and another had the frightened Ari in his grip next to Yama.

"Well if you think about it, I did you a favor by testing your security." Hiro sweatdropped, he remembered Yama's temper from his bot-fighting days and never wanted to be on the receiving end of that rage. He still had flashbacks to some of those moments.

"Thank you, now get rid of them!" and there was that temp- wait what.

"Quick question." Fred spoke up. "When you say get rid of us, do you mean throw us out or are you talking about a more permanent solution?"

Yama's malicious grin answered his question.  
"Permanent, got it." Fred then realized what he meant and the fear crept on his face.

"No!" Ari cried out as the minions began pulling him and Hiro away.

Then there was rumbling from the rooftop, all of them looked up as familiar looking plasma blades cut an uneven circle through the ceiling. The circle fell and Hiro recognized Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon. They were wearing their super gear and were ready for a fight.  
"Yeah! I knew you couldn't resist the call of super herodom!" Fred exclaimed, relieved that help had arrived.  
"Watch out there's more minions!" Ari called out. just as she said that more of Yama's minions appeared from the sliding doors.

Gogo threw one of her disks at a minion that came out of the sliding door, another one tried punching her but she slid away from the attack. With Honey Lemon throwing one of her chem balls at the minion that tried attacking, he fell on the floor trapped in green goo. Wasabi threw a minion that tried leaping at him, two others tried to attack him and Honey Lemon trapped them in goo.

"Yeah that's right!" Wasabi exclaimed, seeing the minions struggle to escape the goo. But then they realized that their shoes were stuck and slipped them off.

"Uh that's wrong!" One of the minions grabbed a chair, cut the legs off and handed half to the other minion. In a panic, Wasabi summoned his plasma blades and slashed with his eyes closed. When he opened them, the chair legs were sliced clean off and rendered useless for the minions.

"Adrenaline's back!" He punched one straight at Yama without hesitation. Yama ducked at a disk thrown at him and used the minion thrown at him as a shield when a chem ball was fired at him.

"Let me go!" Ari was still being held by one of the minions, she kept flailing but was still stuck. Lucky for her, a disk hit the minion and she escaped. Ari ran to where Hiro and Fred were and hid behind them. Who were both relieved that she was okay.

"Hiro! Fred!" Honey Lemon called out to them as she kept firing chem balls at the minions. "You guys okay?"  
"Much better now." Hiro replied.  
"How'd you know we were here- wait were you guys out on night patrol without me?!" Fred exclaimed. _Night patrol?_ Hiro raised an eyebrow at that.

"Fred, night patrol isn't a thing." Gogo skidded around them, throwing one of her disks.

"It's really not." Honey Lemon added.

"So is getting rescued by superheroes a regular thing for you two or...?" Ari gestured at the two of them.

Another minion burst through the doors, holding a wooden plank as a weapon. "Look out!" Hiro dragged Fred and Ari out of the way, the wooden plank hitting the wall. A chem ball hit the minion, trapping him to the wall.

"That was close." Fred gasped. "Did you see how close that was?" Hiro saw Baymax's skeleton, still suspended in the next room.

"Stay here." He told Fred.

"Roger that." Hiro ran towards the skeleton, avoiding all the thrown minions and debris. When he got to the skeleton to free it however, Yama grabbed him.

"Nobody hustles Yama!" He growled, glaring at Hiro in anger.

"And gets away with it?" A squeak came up from the teen.

But he was saved when Honey Lemon threw a chem ball that froze Yama, letting him free, "Looks like I just did!"  
"Ooh, that's cold." Fred chuckled, poking the frozen Yama. "Did you guys get that?"  
"That was a cool pun!" Ari giggled. "Now to escape before more minions show up!"  
They got the skeleton out of the lock, and hooked it up. "Hang on!" Gogo told them. As they all clung to Baymax's skeleton as they were lifted through the air by a helicopter.

"Hey it's Heathcliff!" Fred recognized his family's butler as the pilot, who gave him a thumbs up as they flew away from Good Luck Alley.

* * *

Once back at SFIT, the rest of Hiro's friends offered to take Baymax's skeleton back to the lab. Luckily, Ari didn't question his super suited friends and assumed that he and Fred got in trouble to the point where the superheroes recognized their names. Once his friends were out of sight, he could ask Ari some questions.

"So Ariel." Hiro started, but not sure where to go. "Is that your full name?"  
"Well yes, technically my full name is Ariel Rose… mary." she replied. "I think."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't push it. "So, why did Yama have you prisoner?"

"I-I don't know." Ari sadly shook her head.

"You don't know?" The brunette had her hands to her head and was shaking.  
"I don't know!" She cried out. "I can't remember!"  
"I can't remember anything!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the fic! This just follows the show with some extra touches... like Ari! Speaking of her, I bet y'all didn't expect that tidbit at the end.*dramatic music*
> 
> Tune in for more! If you wanna see, oh and also any reviews would be nice! n.n, a happy author = a happy story after all!


	2. Chapter 1: (Baymax Returns) Amnesiac

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro checks up with his friends, then helps out Ari a little more

"All I remember is waking up in a cold room with one door. Sometimes someone would bring food, but it wasn't very good. I still ate it to prevent starvation, I don't know how long I was in there. I think a few days, sometimes I'd just try to sleep, sometimes I'd curl into a ball and cry, and sometimes I'd bang on the door for hours for someone to let me out. Yama came in once and threatened me to shut up, so I stopped."

Hiro just stared in horror at her story, of what she only remembered. _Poor Ari._  
"Then what happened a while ago happened." Ari sniffled, wiping away the tears. "I don't know why I was in there or what that guy wanted, but some of the minions mentioned a boss… I really don't want to know what would've happened if you didn't show up."  
Hiro gulped the dry air in his mouth. He didn't know how to comfort the crying girl, but tried giving her a pat on the shoulder.  
"Yama isn't going to get his hands on you again." Hiro told her. "You're safe now."  
"Thanks." Ari dried the last of her tears. "Can you give me a moment? I need to think, and you probably want to talk to your friend."

"Alright." Hiro began walking towards the school. "I'll be back soon."  
"Okay." Ari sighed, he felt bad for leaving her there. But he had to talk to the rest of his friends, who were probably angry at him.

* * *

He wasn't wrong.

Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon were glaring at him. Fred was just standing there idle.

"So I'm sensing you're angry?" Hiro questioned, the computer behind him beeped.

" _Without my scanning capabilities, I am unable to detect non-verbal signs of anger._ " Baymax was up, Hiro looked at the robot inside the computer and back at his friends.

" _Are they glaring? Are their eyebrows down and together?_ " Now Fred was glaring at him as well. " _Do you see narrowing of their lips?_ "

"I got this Baymax." Hiro raised his hand to quiet the robot. "Guys, I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing." He felt guilty for making them worried.

"You could've gotten hurt." Honey Lemon frowned, her green eyes were full of concern.

"And I can't believe you stole something from Professor Granville's desk." Wasabi turned to Fred, who was grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. "And you helped him, and now Yama has it!"

"Well..." Hiro went to his jacket pocket and pulled something out.

The paperweight from Granville's desk.

All three of his friends looked at it, not saying a word.

"Double steal!" Of course Fred broke the silence.

"As promised." Hiro held it with one hand, the paperweight weighing down a little heavy.

"I'm impressed." Gogo walked towards him and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "But don't ever do that again."

"I won't." He gestured. "But there's still one problem." He pointed to the broken window in the lab, when Baymax's skeleton malfunctioned and broke out.

"How am I gonna explain that to Professor Granville?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Honey Lemon got a chem ball from her purse to fix the glass, "Just this once."

Hiro beamed. "Thanks Honey Lemon, I should probably get this back to Professor Granvile's desk and check on Ari."  
"Ari?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow, confused about who he was talking about.

"The girl that was with us when you rescued us?"  
"Ohhh, wait why was she there in the first place?" Wasabi questioned.  
"And who is she?" Gogo demanded.

"I don't know." Hiro shook his head. "When I asked her, she couldn't remember. She has amnesia."

All of them gasped in shock. "That's awful!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. "That poor girl!"

" _Amnesia can be caused by damage to areas of the brain that are vital for memory processing. It can be permanent._ " Baymax brought up information on amnesia from the computer. " _Memory enhancing techniques can be used as a treatment, I will update my healthcare database on amnesia._ "

"That's a good idea." Hiro nodded. "Memory loss or not, Yama had her locked up for a reason. It's probably not a good reason, so we should make sure he doesn't get his hands on her."  
"Can we even trust this girl?" Gogo argued. "She could've been lying."

"I saw the fear in her eyes, Gogo." Hiro gave her a determined glare, "Someone has to help, it's the right thing to do."

"Fine." She waved it off. "Just be careful."

"I'm always careful!"  
The gang gave him looks.

* * *

Hiro tiptoed to Professor Granville's office and carefully placed the paperweight on the desk, adjusting it a little to the left. Once he was done placing it back where it should be, he went back to where Ari was sitting.

Ari was sitting on a bench, her hands to her head as she hummed.

"Ari?" She jumped in surprise but calmed down as she recognized Hiro.

"You scared me!" Ari brought a hand to her chest. "How was it?"  
"It went alright." Hiro replied. "My friends were just worried about me."

"Can I ask what was going on?" She questioned. "Why were you dealing with Yama in the first place?"  
"Long story short, Yama stole my robot's skeleton and I had to make a deal. He double-crossed me so I double-crossed him by stealing back the item he had me steal and my friends were waiting for me at the lab worried." He exhaled after that windy explanation, and he didn't even give her all the details.

"I uh, told them about your amnesia." Ari looked away. "They were mostly concerned for you."

Ari rubbed her head speaking of the devil. "When I try to remember something, my mind draws a blank. I get a few flashes, then a headache." She got up from the bench and started walking away.

"Wait!" Hiro called out. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere." Ari sighed. "I don't want to bother you anymore, so I'll just go." Hiro frowned, his conscience screaming at him to stop her. He couldn't just leave her like that.

His brother would've wanted him to help, and so he did.

"You can stay at my house." Ari whipped her head around to stare with shocked eyes. "There's plenty of room in the house, and my aunt wouldn't let a kid out on the streets."  
"Are you sure?" She looked skeptical. "I don't want to be a bother to you or your aunt."  
"You won't." Hiro insisted, grabbing one of her hands. "It's getting late, so we should get going before my aunt starts stress eating in the cafe, that would be a bad first impression."

She looked down at his hands, before looking back up. "And… that's okay?"  
"That's okay." He reassured her.

* * *

Ari wasn't sure what to think, Hiro (the boy who had saved her life from the terrifying Yama) had insisted on letting her stay at his house. She was sitting in the passenger seat of his moped, starting at the sights of the city as Hiro drove. The city of San Fransokyo was beautiful, a mix of American and Japanese architecture. Ari had fun taking in the sights until Hiro stopped the moped at a cat-shaped cafe.

"This is it." Hiro parked the moped in the garage next to the cafe and led Ari towards the door, "Sidenote, don't mention the whole thing with Yama. My aunt wouldn't let me out of the house until I was thirty if she found out."  
"Okay." Ari nodded, and Hiro opened the door. The cafe was small, but it smelled like sugar. She noticed a calico cat curled up atop the counter and a woman with brown hair and green eyes was cleaning up the place.

"Aunt Cass I'm home." Hiro waved to the lady.  
"Hiro! Welcome back." She gave him a hug, then noticed Ari standing awkwardly by the door. "Who's this?"  
"Hi ma'am." Ari said. "I'm Ariel… but you can call me Ari I guess."  
"And is it okay if she stays here for a while, Aunt Cass?" Hiro asked his aunt, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why? Is there something going on?" Cass questioned.  
"I can't remember anything." Ari spoke up before Hiro did. "I don't know where to go or where I'm from. Hiro offered for me to stay here, but you don't have to. I don't want to be a burden to you and your nephew."

"Oh no, you wouldn't be a burden." Cass shook her head. "You can stay for as long as you like."

Ari blinked in surprise, just like that? "But-"  
"Ooookay, it's late and I have school tomorrow." Hiro was shoving Ari up the stairs before she could finish her sentence. "Goodnight Aunt Cass!"  
"Goodnight!" Cass waved. "We'll talk tomorrow!"

* * *

As they walked up the stairs, Hiro explained a little about each room until they got to the upstairs.

"And this is my room, please mind the mess." Hiro pointed to his room, which had clothes and other junk lying everywhere. "You can sleep on the other bed." He hesitantly pointed to the other bed, but shook it off. _She's not gonna sleep on the couch, he would be okay with this._  
"Thanks." Ari went to the other side of the room, where there was another bed. The bed was neatly tucked, unused. She curiously looked around her surroundings.  
"What's that?" Ari pointed to a charger-like device plugged in the wall.

"Baymax's charging station." Hiro answered, He looked a little sad when he said that.

"Who?"

"My brother's healthcare robot." He explained. "He was... broken awhile ago, I managed to rebuild his skeleton and then,, y'know." Oh. Wait, Hiro has a sibling?

"You have a brother?" Ari questioned, she then noticed some of the pictures of the wall. In one of them, Hiro was getting noogied by an older boy. The guy had short black hair, a cap on his head and dark green clothing.  
"Yeah, Tadashi." Hiro stared at the picture with watery eyes. "There was a fire, and now he's gone..." _OH._ The pain of loss wasn't foreign to her.

Ari walked over and gave him a hug. "I'm very sorry for your loss." Hiro didn't respond, but he returned the hug.  
"Goodnight Ari." Hiro pulled the covers of his bed over him. "My aunt will probably talk to you tomorrow about things."  
"Oh jeez." Ari sighed. "Don't remind me, goodnight Hiro!" She tucked herself under the covers, reveling in the softness of the bedsheets. She had been sleeping on a hard floor for days, so it felt like sleeping on a cloud. Her eyes grew heavy with exhaustion, and she yawned as she fell into dreamland.

For the first time since waking up in that cold room, Ari felt at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look the first Baymax appearance  
> Technically... He's still in a computer lol..how do you write Baymax please help  
> Also isn't Hiro such a good person for letting Ari stay at his house, he couldn't just leave her there after all.  
> Little Tadashi mention at the end there : (... but I tried making this chapter end on a happier note!


	3. Chapter 2: (Baymax Returns) The Healthcare Companion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari meets Baymax in person: Fred tries another attempt to convince his friends into the superhero business

Hiro woke up to his aunt's cat Mochi staring him down. He gently batted the cat off his chest, then got up from the bed. Hiro turned to check the other bed, he was surprised that the occupant was still there.

"Ari?" Hiro poked the girl lightly on the shoulder. Ari yawned, and rubbed her eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, good morning Hiro." Ari got up from the bed. Her chocolate brown hair looked like a bird's nest, it was sticking out everywhere.

"We should probably head downstairs." Hiro gestured to the stairs. "Aunt Cass will want to talk to you, and I've got to go to school."

"Okay," Ari nodded. Hiro went to get dressed and get his things for school, while he was doing that he also kept an eye on Ari. She was still wearing her blue striped sweater, and was just giving Mochi some pets on his head.

"I didn't know you had a cat." Ari smiled. "He's cute!" Hiro just chuckled at her gleeful expression.

Once he was done packing his things, Hiro and Ari went downstairs to the cafe, it was during the morning rush so it was a little full. He saw his friends sitting at one of the tables, each of them having their own breakfast.

"Hey guys!" Hiro waved, walking over to them.

"Hey Hiro!" Fred was the first one to reply. "Looks like you had a good night's rest!"

"Yeah." He noticed that Ari had walked over to the counter where his aunt was and was having a conversation with his aunt. Ari looked worried at first, but then she started smiling a little bit into the conversation. It was too noisy in the cafe to pick up what was being said, but Hiro could guess it was about her living situation.

"How did things go with Ari?" Gogo asked him, speaking of the devil.

"It went fine, Aunt Cass is alright with her staying at our house for now." He answered, taking another glance at the convo and noticing the sweater girl helping Cass with something.

"That's great!" Honey Lemon beamed, "I knew things would work out!"

Wasabi raised an eyebrow. "So she's staying at your place for now?"

"Yeah for now," Hiro replied, "Hey Ari! Can you come here?" Ari skipped towards the table, looking reassured.

"Hi Hiro!" She beamed. "You were right, your aunt is really nice!" She then noticed the others sitting at the table. "Oh, these must be your friends, hello!"

"Hello!" Honey Lemon waved. "It's nice to meet you Ari!"

"You already met Fred." Hiro pointed to the comic fan, who was scarfing down a stack of syrupy pancakes. "This is Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon." He pointed to a short woman with scruffy black hair with violet streaks and brown eyes, a well-muscled man with smooth black dreadlocks, a beard, and brown eyes, and a tall woman with honey blonde hair and green eyes.

"Nice names." Ari nodded. "I asked your aunt if I could help her out, I don't want to be a freeloader since you're being so nice in letting me stay here."

"That's sweet of you, but you don't have to help out in the cafe."

"I want to, though."

He then noticed the time. "Well we better get going to school, see you when I get back."

"Bye!" Ari waved. Hiro waved back, he then followed his friends out of the cafe. He made sure to wave goodbye to Aunt Cass as well, he was hopeful that today would be more peaceful than yesterday.

He was going to start the diagnostics, and finally bring back Baymax.

* * *

Ari was starting to get used to living around the Lucky Cat Cafe. She didn't want to be a freeloader so she offered to help Cass run the cafe, she just cleaned tables and got customers coffee most of the time. It had only been about a week, but it felt like a much longer period of time.

As she was living around the cafe, Ari learned a lot more about Hiro. He was a robotics major/teen prodigy, she thought it was cool that he was going to college at fourteen years old. He mentioned that he was working on fixing Baymax (his brother's healthcare robot), so she was excited to meet him. She'd sometimes catch Hiro looking sadly at a picture of him and his brother, she wished there was a way for her to comfort him. He was such a sweet person, there had to be something she could do to make up for his kindness.

She was also starting to get used to Hiro's friends. She got along with Fred the most, he was pretty down to earth for someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He never boasted about his wealth, he even got her a phone when she offhandedly mentioned remembering never owning one in her life. She paid attention when he talked about the Captain Fancy comics and Kentucky Kaiju movies he loved, it was the least she could do since he gave her such a warm welcome.

She also got along with Honey Lemon pretty well. The enthusiastic chemist major was a whirlwind of energy. Ari always felt the happiness radiating off of Honey Lemon and it rubbed off on her whenever they interacted. She'd sometimes send her cute pictures of Mochi, since she knew Honey Lemon was an animal lover.

Ari was aware that Go Go was skeptical of her at first, but eventually she seemed to trust her now. She didn't interact with her much, but she thought that Go Go was a rather cool individual. Getting on her bad side was the last thing Ari would want to do.

She didn't interact much with Wasabi either, but it was something she'd like to change in the future. His sense of organization was something admirable, she'd have to ask him for tips while working in the cafe. Hiro might be awesome, but his sloppiness could get on her nerves. At least he didn't pester her about what she could remember and whatnot, that was nice of him.

* * *

"Dolphin Safe Tuna Nachos coming through!" Cass was carrying several plates of nachos in her hand, she placed them on the customer tables, she handed a pair of mittens to the customer with a very hot plate. "Hot plate! Really hot! Keep the kitten mittens on for awhile will ya?"  
The customer just wiggled the thumbs on the kitten mittens in agreement, Ari made sure to get water for the customers with the nachos.

"Refill alert!" Cass refilled the glasses of some senior citizens, A ketchup bottle crashed and Ari went to clean it up. After that was done, Ari noticed Cass trying to pick up the huge tray of dirty dishes. But she was having a hard time doing so.

"Let me help." Ari went to help her pick up the tray, but her efforts weren't doing much good. Then all of a sudden the weight was lifted, she saw a giant white robot had picked up the tray of dishes.

"Wait what?" Cass blinked in surprise.

" _Hello, I am Baymax."_ The robot waved. _Hiro must have fixed his brother's robot!_

"Baymax? Baymax! You're back!" Cass gave the robot a big hug.

" _Aunt Cass."_ Baymax hugged back, Ari notices that Cass pulls Hiro in the hug as well. She chuckled at the cute scene.

"Hi Baymax." she waved at the robot. "It's nice to meet you."

" _Hello."_ Baymax waved back.

"So what specific functions does Baymax have?" Ari asked, after the adorable hug in the cafe Hiro was pushing Baymax up the stairs for a quick recharge.

" _I am a personal healthcare companion_." Baymax answered her.

"He's also state of the art." Hiro chimed in. "Though while I stuck to most of the original design I upgraded his batteries."

"Is that why he's getting shoved up the stairs?" Ari helped him get the robot up to the charging station, she saw a battery icon flashing on Baymax's chest as he was recharging.

"Correct, just making sure the charging station at home works the same as the one in the lab." Hiro sat down on his bed, somewhat tired after shoving the robot up the stairs. "Baymax is a lot heavier than I remember." He realized what he said and gave a light chuckle. "No offense buddy."  
" _I am a robot, I cannot be offended._ " The robot replied, she let out a chuckle.

"He's very self-aware isn't he?" Ari smiled. "I think we'll be very good friends, Baymax and I." She turned to face Hiro, who was smiling as well. "Don't you think?"

"Mhm. Baymax can also help you with your amnesia." He explained. "He's really good at his job."  
"I don't want to burden you any further Hiro," Ari frowned.

"A burden?" Hiro was confused. "What do you mean by a burden?"  
"I'm probably putting you and your aunt in danger by staying here." Ari explained, she was starting to walk to the other end of the room. "I don't want to be here for too long, what if Yama finds out where I am and-" She was too distracted to watch where she was going and her foot ended up stubbing the corner of the bed.  
"Ow…" Ari rubbed her foot, she didn't notice that Baymax got out of the charging station and was walking towards her.

" _I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said 'ow.'"_ Baymax brought up ten faces from smiling to upset. " _On a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

"None, I'm fine Baymax." Ari retorted, it didn't hurt that much!

"Bad idea to lie to the healthcare companion Ari." Hiro was chuckling.  
"I don't need any-" Ari was cut off when Baymax picked up her injured foot, his hands turning a slight blue color. A feeling of cool relief was on her foot, making the pain more bearable.

" _Icing the area is recommended to reduce swelling_." Baymax continued to cool the area, the pain subsiding.

"Okay, okay, I'm fine now you can stop icing my foot Baymax." Ari spoke up after a while.

" _I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care._ " The robot replied, Ari sighed.

"I'm satisfied with my care, you should get some more battery power." When she said those magic words, Baymax went back to his charging station and deactivated. Ari examined her foot, which wasn't hurting at all thanks to the healthcare companion.

"You aren't being a burden to me or my aunt, Ariel." Hiro got up from his bed and sat next to her. "Aunt Cass told me the other day she enjoyed having another helper in the cafe, and my friends enjoy your company. I promised you that Yama isn't going to get his hands on you and I'm going to keep that promise." The words were comforting to her. It felt like words she'd always wanted to hear but never got.

"What if you get hurt?" She questioned "I'd feel awful if you were injured because of me."  
Hiro gestured to the recharging robot and chuckled "It wouldn't be the first time I outsmarted Yama."  
"Bet it wouldn't be the first time you'd have to get rescued by superheroes either huh?" Ari grinned, smiling once more.

"Hey! It was one time!" Hiro shook his head. _Still glad Ari didn't realize that my friends are the same superheroes that rescued her._ He still wanted to find out what Yama wanted with the girl, but no matter what reason he wouldn't let that happen.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleheroes, since we kicked so much butt at, well y'know, kicking so much butt," Gogo, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi were at Fred's manor. The latter attempted a second time to persuade them into the superhero business.  
"I took the liberty of designing our very own…" He had a curtain over something, then pulled it away to reveal a spotlight. "Superhero signal!" Fred did a few jazz hands, the curtain fell on top of him as he did the jazz hands.

"Ooh." Honey Lemon clapped, curious to see what Fred has cooked up. Wasabi coughed from the dust created in the air and tries to blow it away. Gogo didn't react at all, she just popped her bubblegum.

"Heathcliff! Hit the lights!" Fred does a small drum roll as Heathcliff turns the lights off. The spotlight turns on to reveal…  
"Ta-da!" Fred throws his hands in the air, the spotlight turns on, but it's not the words he expected to see.

"Halp?" Wasabi raises an eyebrow, glancing at his friend.  
"Yeah, that's supposed to be 'help." Fred sighed. "Heathcliff, did we keep the receipt?"

"We did not, Master Frederick." The butler replied. Fred didn't complain and just pulled his friends into a hug.

"Okay, so we'll just go with 'halp,' people will know." He grinned. The signal might be not what he initially wanted, but superhero stories don't start off perfect after all!  
"Freddie, I heart your enthusiasm." Honey Lemon started saying as Gogo broke the group hug. "I really do, but I had to freeze someone yesterday." She stared at him hard. "I'm not comfortable with that." Even though Yama was going to do harm to Hiro. She didn't like having to freeze him.

"Don't beat yourself up Honey Lemon. I'm sure he thawed by now," Fred reassured her. Meanwhile, Heathcliff turned off the spotlight in the background. "Guys! This is no way for Big Hero 6 to talk!"

"Big Hero 6? Really?" Gogo raises an eyebrow, out of all the team names for Fred to pick it had to be that?

"My brain stormed an epic list of team names, and that one tested best, with an audience of me, and also Heathcliff..." Fred thought it felt right for some strange reason. Like something you'd slap onto a movie title.

"The power of six!" He held out his hand, expecting his friends to do the same, but his hand stayed alone in the circle. "C'mon guys I need at least one more hand from each of you."

"Look Fred, it was a one-time thing." Gogo explains. "Saving you two knuckleheads from Yama."

"I could've sworn I heard from someone, I don't want to name any names. But it might rhyme with Bobo, that this was a one-time thing when we stopped Callaghan!" He exclaimed.

All three of his friends flinch at the name, and Fred realized his mistake. "Sorry." He stared into the ground. "I forget we're not supposed to mention." While he was shocked as the rest of them that the masked villain they labeled "Yokai" was actually their thought-to-be dead Professor Callaghan. It didn't hit him as hard despite their profession being the one to take their beloved Tadashi away.

Hiro however… reacted in a fit of rage at the realization Callaghan started the fire that killed his brother, and the latter in retaliation exclaimed it was Tadashi's fault. Fred didn't want to remember how horrible that encounter went, so he tried changing the subject.  
"And you didn't just save Hiro and I from Yama, you guys also saved Ari." He brought up the mysterious sweater girl.  
"Has Ari mentioned if she's recovered any memories?" Honey Lemon asked him.

"Well, there was one thing. She told me that she remembered never owning a phone, which was a shocker! So after she told me I went and got her one, Ari kept telling me I didn't have to but I wanted to. At least if she ever got into trouble she'd be able to call us for help quicker." Fred explained. "This is the kind of red herring that leads to trouble."  
"Trouble?" Gogo frowned at him.  
"Yeah, in comics whenever there's a mysterious character with amnesia which is quite uncommon and mostly seen in other types of literature. The first few memories are often something sad, like remembering not having a family or never celebrating a birthday. It's a red herring that Ari might have a tragic backstory!" He referred to fiction with that one. "It's a thing I've seen in a _lot_ of anime."

"That doesn't sound good." Wasabi shook his head. "Ari's a good kid, I don't want to know what sort of reason there was for Yama locking her up."  
"A reason that can be solved by a superhero team!" Fred raises a finger to the air, trying one last time to persuade his friends into the superhero business.

"Sorry Fred, it's probably not a good idea for us to get involved." Honey Lemon was not convinced.

"And that's it! We're done! We're not becoming superheroes and we don't need a team name!" Gogo declared, walking out of the room with Honey Lemon and Wasabi following her afterwards as they waved goodbye to Fred.

The comic fan pouted, at least Hiro would back him up in the whole superhero thing. He should check on the teen genius, who was still at SFIT working on some sort of project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baymax has arrived! In the flesh! Well vinyl... cuz he's a robot y'know  
> Ari seems to like him but she's so hard on herself : (  
> Next time: The end of the "Baymax Returns" part of this fic, some OC's make a debut, and also you know what happens in the episode


	4. Chapter 3: (Baymax Returns) Superheroes and Students

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari goes to SFIT and meets some of the students there, meanwhile Yama launches a robot attack and Big Hero 6 officially form their team

Ari was going to find out what was going on even if it killed her.

It started one night when Hiro came back late from school looking rather dejected, he didn't give a clear answer when she asked him what was wrong. But then she noticed Fred pestering Hiro about something. Her guess was a superhero club considering their history with her heroic rescuers, but Ari wasn't going to get any answers by just watching in the background.

So one day she thought it would be a good idea to finally visit SFIT and see the problem at the source. She made sure to ask Cass permission if she could go at first, explaining that she was concerned about Hiro. The former was happy to let her visit Hiro's college, happy that Ari cared for her nephew. She got to the school by taking the public bus, and Wasabi thankfully gave her instructions on where to go.

Her destination was like she remembered except more clear in the day. The campus was huge and futuristic. Ari was unsure where Hiro was on campus but she hoped it wasn't in class because that would be awkward. There were a handful of students outside but none of them were Hiro. _This is going to be harder than I thought._ She sighed.

"Man, how hard is it to find a fourteen year-old genius in a campus full of college students?" Her feet tapped on the ground as she mumbled under her breath, until a hand softly poking her shoulder made her turn.

A rather short college student was behind her. She was wearing a cherry pink shirt, magenta skirt, dark pink flats with white stockings and a black vest. Her hair was wavy, a light shade of blonde. Her eyes were light and colored coffee brown, Ari noticed on her arms besides the peach pink wristband were very faint scars that looked years old.

"Excuse me, but are you looking for a Hiro Hamada?" She asked.

"Uh huh, I'm a friend of his and he's been acting weird so I wanted to check on him." Ari nodded. "I'm Ariel, Ari-for-short-Rosemary and you're...?"

"Sara Ferns, I'm in his thermo dynamics class." She gestured to herself. "Want me to help you look for him?"  
"That would be awesome! Thank you so much!"  
"No problem." Sara grinned. "The teen geniuses of this school could use lots of people looking out for them."

* * *

They first checked the food court. "I see Hiro and his friends here for lunch all the time, or they just talk about things." Sara explained, looking around the cafeteria. "I don't see them here, they might be in the labs."

"Hey Sara!" A student with a deep voice walked up to them. "Who's your new friend?"  
"Hey David!" Sara smiled at him. "This is Ariel Rosemary, she's looking for Hiro. Ari, this is my bro David."  
David was a little taller than Sara, he had raven black hair that stuck up a little. A little bit of his hair was dyed a light blue color and his blind eyes were a golden topaz. He was wearing a navy blue jacket that was zipped up, a blue-grey turtleneck, dark grey sweatpants and purple flats.

"I heard Hiro in the robotics lab awhile ago." David explained. "I think Fred was bothering him again. I heard the sound of Fred in his mascot costume walking around and Hiro slamming the locker door annoyed."  
"Fred has been doing that for the past few days." The wavy-haired blonde grumbled. "If this keeps happening I have half a mind to report to Professor Granville."  
"I have a weird question." Ari spoke up, interrupting the two's conversation. "Is David here your brother? You called him 'bro' but you don't look alike."  
"Well yes, but technically no." Sara sheepishly answered.

"We don't share blood but we grew up together as siblings under the same house." David explained. "Forgot to say this but it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She waved for a few seconds, but then switched to a handshake. "You said Hiro was in the robotics lab, can I see him?"  
"Sure." He chirped. "Can I finish my conversation with Sara first? We also need to plan a study group because I think we're getting a test soon in one of our classes."  
"Okay, sure." Ari nodded. While they were conversing she decided to observe the cafeteria.

She watched other students converse and eat their food at the tables, but something or rather some _one_ stood out to her. A girl sitting by herself surrounded by books, looking not much older than Hiro. Her hair was a long chocolate brown color, her eyes ,more on the reddish-brown and with olive-tan skin. She was wearing a turtleneck like David but it was a cream color, she wore a bright orange skirt with black leggings and flats. She had some accessories on, red earrings and a few bright colored wristbands. Ari noted that the student was scribbling something, perhaps taking notes? But most of the other students together, so seeing someone by herself was strange in this school.

The girl looked at her, seeing her staring back. Ari felt bad for the awkward staring, not sure what else to do but smile and wave. The girl just smiled as well, and gave a small wave back.

"Okay we're done planning three hours of suffering c'mon Ari!" Sara ended the moment by dragging her out of the cafeteria with David in the quest to find Hiro. But Ari just kept thinking about the girl with reddish-brown eyes. _Sara mentioned genius, plural… guess Hiro isn't the only young student at SFIT. I wonder if I'll get to see that girl again..._

_She looked a little lonely, I think I'd want to be friends with her._

* * *

"Welcome to the nerd lab Ariel!" Sara shouted as they entered the robotics lab, it looked impressive as all sorts of science tests by students were being performed.

"Sara that's my line!" Gogo stomped over, glaring at the wavy-haired blonde before turning to the sweater girl. "Hey Ari, how come you're here?"  
"Looking for Hiro because he's been acting weird for a while and if it's Fred's fault I am going to have some strong words with him because it's doing me a concern." Ari blurted out.

"You just missed him, Hiro went to his next class a few minutes ago." The engineer explained. "It's probably not something Fred's doing. He told me the other day that Professor Granville gave Hiro a lesson on balance, and took it to heart."

"Ohhh…" She felt glad there was no need to throw hands at the comic fan. "Wait, if it's this Professor's fault I'd like to have a few words with her."  
Sara and David frowned. "That's a bad idea." The latter told her. "Granville is pretty strict and I've heard from my fellow student's that her glare is intimidating… even her tone of voice scares me sometimes when she's disciplining any class troublemakers."  
"What's this about our new dean that's scary but cool?" The voice of someone entering the lab made them look over.

The newcomer was a girl with unusual snow white hair that had to be dyed. Her skin was much paler than Sara or David's, and was freckled around the cheeks. Her sharp green eyes reminded Ari of a serious person, for some reason. Her hair was long enough to fall over her black and purple sweater. She wore dark navy blue pants and black kicks.

"Ari, this is Mikan Ferns." Gogo was the one who introduced her. Ari's eyes widened in surprise. _She shares the same surname as David and Sara!_

"Yes she's our sister too I know you're going to ask that I've seen that face before." Sara quickly responded before she could speak.

"And that's all I'm going to ask." Ari crossed her arms. "I want to talk to the dean of the school, 'cause I'm worried about Hiro."  
"Bad idea!" David and Sara exclaim.

"Sure." Mikan flashed a thumbs up. All three of them frown.

"Mika, do not have a bad influence on Hiro's friend." David facepalmed.

"What? I haven't seen anyone besides Hiro try to argue with the dean." The oldest Fern argued. "it might be interesting."  
"Or irresponsible!" David fired back. "Don't make me tell Mom!"

Mikan gave an offended gasp. "You wouldn't!"

"Yes I would!"  
"Tattletale!"  
"No I'm not!"  
"Are too!"

As the two bickered, Gogo noted two less people in the group. "Ahem." She cleared her throat. "You guys realize that Ari and Sara left right?"

"What?!" They exclaimed, then they realized she was right.

Gogo just shook her head, popping her bubblegum. "Yep."

* * *

Meanwhile, the missing two were standing in front of the dean's office. "Okay it sounds like she's in at the moment." Sara noted.  
"I'm not going to get you in trouble, am I?" Ari asked her. As much as she wanted to find out what was going on with Hiro, she didn't want to get anyone in trouble or be a bother to someone else.

"Nahhh, David, Mika, and I might make it sound like the dean is scary." The wavy-haired blonde gestured. "But deep down she's a big softy that just cares a ton for her students, kind of like my Aunt Sally!"

"I'm flattered for the compliment Ms. Ferns." Sara yelped and jumped back in surprise. Ari looked up as the supposed dean entered the hallway. The woman was dark-skinned with short black hair and stern dark eyes. Her sweater was a black color, and had bright golden jewelry. Ari could understand why some students seemed afraid of the dean, she looked intimidating alright.

"Hi, I'm Ariel Rosemary..." She nervously waved. "A friend of Hiro Hamada, and you are?"

"Professor Grace Granville." The dean nodded."I don't believe you attend this school, care to explain why one of my students brought you here?"  
She cleared her throat before speaking. "Well you see. I'm worried about Hiro a little, something has been bothering him for a while. And one of his friends mentioned that it might have to do with something you said." _Hopefully that last comment wasn't too rude._

"Ah, recently I had explained to Mr. Hamada the importance of balance." Granville explained. "I am hopeful that perhaps he can follow in his brother's footsteps in terms of learning responsibility."

"That'll be the day." Sara muttered under her breath while the sweater girl frowned. She carefully picked her words before answering once more.

"Ms. Granville, will all due respect, I think that was quite unfair of you to do." Sara gave Ari this shocked look and took a few steps away. "Hiro isn't like his brother, I never met Tadashi and I don't know Hiro very well, but they're two different people with different personalities and goals. No offense ma'am, but while balance is important it's not fair to Hiro to compare him to someone else."  
Granville didn't react at first. _I hope I didn't make her mad..._ "I see." But the dean just had a thoughtful expression on her face. "It is very brave of you to speak up for your friend Ms. Rosemary."  
"I just wanna help Hiro as much as he's helped me." Ari nervously chuckled."It was nice meeting you Ms. Granville."  
"Likewise." The dean smiled. "I will think about your words Ms. Rosemary, have a good day." And went back into her office as the door closed.

"Phew," Sara gave a sigh of relief. "I thought she was going to get mad."

Ari gave Sara a look. "Were you scared?"  
"Was not!" She huffed. "Do you still want to speak to Hiro?"  
"Nah." Ari glanced back at the dean's office. "I think I'll head back, tell Hiro I said hello for me will ya?"  
"Sure, see you around Ari." Sara waved to her, heading back in the direction of the labs. Ari waved back, and then began to head back to the cafe.

* * *

_Later that night..._

"Still reeling from the bitter taste of disappointment, the lone guardian of justice continues his watch over the city…" Fred narrated as watched the city with binoculars, wearing his superhero suit as he stood atop a building. All of his friends had declined the superhero offer, even Hiro! Instead his friend had dived into his studies taking the words Professor Granville said to him to heart. Despite Fred's badgering, none of his friends changed their minds. He felt cold isolation as he watched the city, sighing as he dropped the binoculars.

"Maybe they were right." He turned off the superhero spotlight he brought with him. "Maybe the city doesn't need halp…" As much as Fred wanted to be a superhero like in the comics he treasured, the freezing touch of reality chilled his core.

He took one last glance at the city and turned away in sadness, his binoculars lying down alone on the streets. Silence hung in the air until a metal foot crushed the binoculars. Then several pairs of feet were walking down the streets.

Metal skeletons shaped like Baymax's were roaming the street. With Yama watching them as they traversed the roads.

* * *

No surprise it ended up being the next breaking news.

"Seemingly indestructible robots have invaded Night Market Square. Annihilating everything in their path." TV reporter Bluff Dunder narrated. "We're also getting reports of destruction on Shimamoto Boulevard. I think it would be smart enough for you to avoid that area. Who is behind this robot rampage?" The TV in the Lucky Cat on showed several robots causing destruction on the streets. The nerd gang gasped, recognizing the robots were shaped like Baymax's skeleton.

Only one person could have done this, someone that had the skeleton in their grasp for a period of time.

"Oh no." Honey Lemon was horrified at all the chaos shown.

"Yama." Hiro frowned, mentally punching himself for letting the criminal get an opportunity to copy Baymax. He banged his knuckles on the table in anger.

"He bootlegged Baymax?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.  
"Baymaxes!" Wasabi exclaimed. "Plural! So plural!"

"Okay, so a bunch of killer robots are loose in the city." Fred gestured, too close to the physics major, "You know what that sounds like?"  
"A nightmare I had once?"

"No! It sounds like a job for Big Hero 6!" He shouted. "You guys are gonna love the name once you see the t-shirts."  
"The police can handle this." Gogo told him The TV at that moment flashes to a policeman staring into the camera with fear.  
"We can't handle this!" He shouted as the robots blasted destruction across the city.

Gogo sighed. "Let's suit up..." as much as she didn't want to get involved. None of them could stand idle as the Fake Baymaxes kept attacking the city, they had to help.

"Baymax needs his armor, I've got to finish it." Hiro ran out of the cafe. "I'll meet you guys there. Just be careful!"  
Wasabi then spoke up. "Do you guys think the Fake Baymaxes are looking for Ari?"

"I hope not!" Honey Lemon gasped. "If it was and she finds out, she'd feel more guilty than ever!"  
"Guilty?" Gogo raises an eyebrow.

"She feels bad for staying at the Lucky Cat and thinks she's gonna put Hiro and Aunt Cass in danger." Fred clarified for her.

"That's ridiculous." Gogo might've been wary at first, but it wouldn't be her fault if Yama broke into the cafe to abduct her back. the sound of the TV interrupted their conversation. "Finish another time, we have a city to save."

* * *

Hiro was pacing back and forth with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders slouched. "Come on, come on, come." He mumbled, wishing the armor would finish quicker!

Baymax got out of his charging station. " _You appear to be… agitated._ " He stated.

"Yeah, the city's under attack!" Hiro pointed out

" _And you feel responsible_."

"What?" He turned around.

Baymax looks down at his screen. " _Your body language, and lack of eye contact are strong indicators of guilt._ " He showed a picture of a slouching person, and a face glancing left and right but not giving direct stare.

"If I had just run Tadashi's diagnostics like you told me to, none of this would have happened!" Yama had also gotten close to getting whatever was on Granville's desk had he not been able to double-steal it back.

" _Hiro, you would not have been able to rescue Ari had you ran the diagnostics._ " Hiro's eyes widened. _He's right._ But it didn't help the guilt in his chest.

The beeping from the machine brought his attention back, he went to collect the armor piece.  
"You may be right in that Baymax..." Hiro sighed. "The sooner I finish this the sooner I can help the team."

* * *

The team was fighting the Fake Baymaxes at the moment. The robots were causing destruction, blowing up stuff and terrorizing the citizens. Someone tripped over debris and Gogo managed to rescue them before a robot could attack.

"I got you!" She brought them to safety, then turned her focus back on the robots. She threw her disks at them, hitting one in the neck. Honey Lemon made one of her chem balls and threw it at several bots, trapping them as they were rolled down the road.

Meanwhile Wasabi and Fred were hiding behind a car. "Wasabi, one of us has to be a decoy." Fred told him.

"Flip for it." Wasabi pointed to a car a Fake Baymax is about to throw. "Roof or wheels?"

"Wheels, obviously." The thrown car does land wheels up.

"How was that obvious!?" Wasabi gawked at the car then back to Fred.

"Watch a movie sometime, a flipped car always lands wheels up." Fred pointed out. "Come on,"

Wasabi ran from his hiding spot and threw a rock at the Fake Baymax. The robot turned to face him, it's eyes roaring a bloody red. Wasabi whimpered at the it's soulless stare, it being a dark mirror to the real Baymax's neutral expression. He screamed as the robot shot lasers at him.

"I DON'T THINK I'M CUT OUT FOR THIS!" He screamed while rolling from the attacks and hiding behind another car in fear. The robot kept firing, unaware Fred was sneaking up behind it.

"Fredzilla time!" Fred roared fire at it but much to his surprise the robot was unaffected by the heat. The robot turned and pinned him down. "Halp!" He screamed as it was about to fire a laser on him.

A laser blade saved him, his friend was panting and kneeling to the ground afterwards. "Wasabi are you okay?" Honey Lemon ran to check on them.

"No, I'm not." Wasabi gasped for air. "I'm… great?" he stared at his hands, a familiar feeling was in him again. "Adrenaline's flowing, I'm feeling it!"

Wasabi activated his plasma blades, no longer feeling anything but the exhilaration of adrenaline. "Okay, who's next? Bring it! I said bring it! While I'm riding this adrenaline wave!" He got up and charged into battle. "Woo! Oh yeah!"

Honey Lemon and Gogo just gave each other concerned looks while Fred flashed a thumbs up to their friend.

* * *

" _Hiro, do you feel better now?_ " Baymax asked him as he finished placing the bottom half of the robot's armor on.

"I'll feel better when we beat Yama's robots." Hiro answered. While his healthcare companion reminded him that he was able to save Ari's life by not running the diagnostic, he still felt guilty for letting Yama get a chance to copy his robot. A distant crash caught his attention, he and Baymax tilted their heads at the sound.

"Hang on." He tiptoed out of the lab, a feeling of dread in his gut.

" _Hang on to what?_ " Baymax did not understand the expression.

Hiro was crouching as he looked for the source of the noise. But as he peered around a corner, he saw Yama and a few robots.  
"You, guard the door." Yama was telling one of the robots as he touched the screen that brought up a map of the school campus. Why was Yama in the school?

 _The paperweight!_ His eyes went wide. "Shh." He shushed the robot sneaking behind him.

" _Shh._ " Baymax shushed back.

"Yama must have sent out those other bots as a distraction." Hiro noted. He was glad that Yama wasn't trying to get Ari back, but it was still bad that he was going to take something.

He got out his phone to warn the others. "Guys, Yama just broke into the school," He whispered. "I-I think he really wants that thing from Granville's office."

" _Seriously?!_ " Wasabi screamed from the other line. " _It's a paperweight!_ "

" _Also we're kind of-uhg busy right now!_ " Gogo sounded like she was throwing her disks at the bots.

" _Too… many… robots!_ " Fred wheezed.

" _Hiro, you should get out of there!_ " Honey Lemon told him.

He couldn't sit and do nothing as Yama stole the paperweight for who-knows-what. "No, Baymax and I will find a way to hold off Yama."

" _Ahg! We'll be there as soon as we-"_ Gogo's voice dissolved into static from the other line, he pocketed the phone and faced Baymax.  
"Buddy, it's time to be a superhero." He said with a superhero chip in his hand.

* * *

They were hiding behind the corner and watching. Hiro narrowed his eyes at the Fake Baymax on lookout. "First, let's take out that guy, ready?"

" _Yes._ " Baymax nodded back at him. The Fake Baymax stomped down the hall and Hiro snuck to another corner, Baymax tiptoeing after him.

But then his ringing phone alerted the Fake Baymax. It threw a fist he barely dodged. "Hello?"

" _Hiro!_ " His aunt replied from the other line.  
"Hey, Aunt Cass, I'm kind of busy." Hiro told her.

" _Me too, the seafood market was jammed. But Ari and I got the most amazing deal on butterfish!_ "  
" _Hi Hiro!_ " Speaking of her. It was a relief to hear Ari's voice, reassuring him that Yama wasn't trying to get her after-all. He almost chuckled as he heard groans from people in the background, butterfish tended to smell rancid so he didn't blame them.

"Great but-" The Fake Baymax grabbed him by the hoodie.

Cass didn't hear the yelp. " _We just got on the train, so I'll be home soon, okay? Don't snack!_ "

"Okay, gotta go love you bye!" He ends the call still in the fake's grip. Baymax tries to rescue him and it ends up with the robot being attacked instead.

" _Violence is not a recommended solution._ " His robot was holding both of the robot's fist, restraining it from doing any more damage. Hiro leaped on the Fake Baymax's back and yanked out it's wires. He fell off as it shaked and it's metallic hands ripped Baymax's vinyl and collapsed onto the ground with its head popping off.

"Baymax!" Hiro ran to check on him.

" _Oh no._ " Baymax stared at the vinyl going down his shoulders. " _I am in need of repair."_ And it gave him an idea…

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Fred and the rest of the nerd gang were finishing up the rest of the robots.

"I could do this all night!" Fred cackled. He didn't realize a robot was about to fire a laser at him but one of Honey Lemon's chem balls stopped it. She encased the entire robot and it dissolved into the wind.  
"You okay Freddie?" Honey Lemon asked him as he coughed up the dust.

"Yes, I am thankful to you superhero. Wink." Fred supposedly winked. "You can't see it but there's so much winking going on in here." She gave him a weird look.  
Gogo ended the awkward moment by reminding them they had to hurry to SFIT and help Hiro.

* * *

Back at the school, the Fake Baymaxes were trashing all the rooms in search of the paperweight. Hiro and Baymax hid behind a corner, the robot's vinyl removed to make him look like a fake.

Yama went up to a locked office. "Key card? Here's my key card." With the snape of his fingers the Fake Baymax bust in. "Tear it apart." Yama ordered.

"Uh okay, Baymax I need you to act like one of the bad Baymaxes." Hiro awkwardly explained.

He blinked. "' _Act' is not a command I understand._ "

"Just do what they do, and get the paperweight."

As the robots are tearing through the rooms, Baymax waddling down the hall with his friend's nodes and gestures guiding him to the correct one. Hiro flashed a thumbs up as the robot went in. Baymax scanned the room to find the paperweight, picking it up and inspecting it once found.

"Hey!" Yama was staring down at him. "Aren't you the one that's supposed to be guarding-" He didn't see the paperweight and was just yelling at the poor robot who was merely scanning him. "Oh never mind, just help them." Yama gestured to the other two fakes in the room. "What are you waiting for?! Find that thing!"

Once looking away, Baymax went for the door as he was in the clear.

But then a book fell on Yama as he searched the shelves. "Ow!" The word made Baymax turn right back around.  
"Oh no..." Hiro clenched his teeth with fear.

" _Hello, I am Baymax._ " Yama turned around.

"What?" He stared.

" _I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said, 'ow._ " Baymax held up the paperweight. " _On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?_ " Yama smirked.

"Get him." He snapped his fingers.

" _Oh no._ " The Fake Baymaxes pin down the original.

"It's over, Zero!"

"The name's _Hiro_." Yama looked up to get smacked with a rocket fist Hiro fired. causing him to drop the paperweight on the ground and it cracked. A green light poured out of the paperweight and it attached to a Fake Baymax before Hiro or Yama can grab it.

Too much electricity pulsed from the robot as it twitched and lifted up Baymax. " _Oh, no._ " Then threw him out the window.  
Hiro gasped in horror as the robot was barely clinging onto the railing to prevent crashing down.

"Baymax! Hang on buddy!"  
" _Hiro, you are in danger._ " Baymax warned him. He saw the paperweight-controlled Fake Baymax creeping towards them. But before it could attack them, it broke from the _sheer_ amount of power forced into its body.

Yama picked up the paperweight. "So that's why he wants it..." He muttered, running out of the door.

" _This is not safe, if you do not let me go you may fall._ " Baymax saw Hiro's grip slipping.

Hiro refused, he couldn't lose Baymax all over again. "No, you'll break!" So he continued to struggle pulling him up, but Baymax slipped from his grasp. "No!" He jumped after him, bracing for the concrete's attack.

A pile of green goop broke their fall.

" _This was a positive outcome,_ " Baymax said. Hiro looked up to his friends standing in front of him.

He smiled. "Thanks, Honey Lemon."

"We're not losing anybody on my watch." She told him.

"What happened?" Gogo questioned.

"That paperweight isn't just a paperweight."

Fred gave the others weird looks. "Wait you guys really thought it was just a paperweight? "Whatever the villain's trying to get is never what it seems. That's comic book 101. Granville's paperweight probably has some cool untold power."

"But why would she have something so dangerous on her desk?" Wasabi pointed out.

"Maybe one of it's untold powers is holding down papers." They groaned at the comic book fan but it at least gave them some relief.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Gogo questioned.

Hiro smirked. "We stop Yama, together."

He finished the rest of Baymax's armor while the robot waited to refill with air. But not before putting on his own armor, something he hadn't done since ...coming back from the portal. As he finished up, Hiro was looking down at his brother's hat before placing it on the lab's desk.

"I'm gonna make this right."

* * *

They all looked at the city, all geared up, until Fred glanced away with tears in his eyes.

"I always knew we'd all be together again like this." He sniffles.

Honey Lemon placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you need a tissue Fred?"

"No, I'll be fine." Fred wiped them away.

"Are you sure? Cause we probably should go catch Yama." Hiro asked, but Fred was alright. They were all superheroes now and they were going to save the day.

* * *

_Meanwhile with Yama!_

"This is not just an alloy, you could have told me." He was on the line with his boss, who was working on something on his end.

" _Why would I do that? "You're a dog fetching a ball, bring me the ball._ " He groaned, last time he did something for his boss was to abduct that girl and keep her at his base for a while! Yama didn't know why his boss thought the girl was useful for anything, but he was just glad the man didn't care that she was broken out and didn't order him to go through the hassle of retrieving her.

Though it would be easier than carrying the glowing object in his pocket. "I'm on my way but uh… there is something else. Your ball is broken, just a little bit... bye." He quickly ended the call and picked up the running.

As for the heroes, they were flying atop Baymax. Hiro admitted it was nostalgic and nice again, but now was not the time.

They landed atop a roof. "Alright!" Fred exclaimed. "What do we do now?

"Time to fire up that super-sensor Baymax!" Hiro ordered the robot.

" _Scanning for Yama._ " Baymax scanned the city while he tapped his helmet to analyze the paperweight.

The result horrified him. "Nano-induction…"

"Of course! Please explain though."

"That's what's happening inside the metal! It can amp up anything electric powered to a dangerous level!" Hiro explained.

" _Yama is located there_." Baymax pointed to where Yama was, sending the location to their helms.

"The train station!" Honey Lemon pressed her two hands together in worry.

"The electric train people!" Wasabi added, realizing what sort of harm could happen if Yama brought that paperweight near anything electric.

"Aunt Cass..." Hiro gasped with horror. "Ari…"

* * *

Unaware of the danger potentially harming them Cass was just humming a tune while holding her bag of butterfish.

"That stinks lady!" A passenger yelled. Ari rolled her eyes, the smell wasn't _that_ bad. She was curious how it tasted though. Ari didn't remember eating butterfish ever in her life, though it could just be her amnesia telling her otherwise.  
Then the train started speeding up.

The passengers jolted, Ari screamed and clung to Cass.

"Ari it's okay I've got you!" Cass ignored the butterfish slipping from her arms and focused on making sure the sweater girl was okay.  
"Why is the train speeding?!" Ari was borderline on tears., "Make it stop!"

Luckily for them outside of the train, Honey Lemon was attempting to slow down the passenger cars that had been recently cut off from the engine thanks to Wasabi and Gogo. As Honey Lemon fired chem balls as Fred carried her, Wasabi on the other hand was in front of the passenger cars and kept getting the disgusting taste in his mouth until a yellow goop was the one that stopped the train in its tracks.

"Woah!" Cass sighed in relief as the train slowed down, she went to collect the dropped fish.

"Don't step on my dinner!" She told the passengers. "It's butterfish, better than other fish!" Ari kept breathing heavy, trying to calm down from whatever happened. She looked out the window to see something red and purple fly by.

* * *

"The rest is up to you and me buddy." Hiro told Baymax. "Someone has to help."

* * *

Ari squinted as someone in purple armor riding a red robot chased after the speeding engine. The red robot landed in front of the train and tried to slow it down, the purple armored person held his hands out and dragged something off the engine. The thing detached from the train, the red robot being able to stop it's movement. Ari noticed the train was close to the central station. _It could've caused so much destruction if they didn't stop it!_ She realized, then noticed they looked similar to the superheroes that saved her from Yama. _They must be their teammates, and I bet that stuff outside the windows is one of the chemical things from the pink one!_

But then she noticed the object was glowing bright green, it overcharged the red robot, causing it to blast into the air. She pressed her face to the window, witnessing the purple armored person throw the glowing green object in the air and destroying it. An electrical wave in the air as the object was destroyed, Ari didn't know what it was but she knew it was deadly since it caused _that_.

But then she gasped as the red robot and purple armored person started falling to the ground. "Oh gosh." Ari couldn't do anything but watch as the purple armored person fell off the robot and just when he got back on they were almost at ground level. But just when it seemed they would crash into the ground, the red robot reactivated at the right moment and flew back into the air.

Ari released the breath she was holding. "Thank you Big Hero 6…"

* * *

"A little too close to disaster there." Wasabi pointed out as Hiro and Baymax flew down to them.

"But… it wasn't." Gogo smirked.

Honey Lemon smiled as she placed a hand on Wasabi's shoulder. "We saved a lot of people, together."

"Fred was right all along." Hiro realized as he climbed off Baymax.

The coming fan rubbed his hands with glee. "Yes, Fred was right all along. So what I'm hearing is that we're all fully committed to being a superhero team and we'll sign legally binding contracts to that effect."

"Fred, how about this." Wasabi reached his hand out, just like Fred tried once, his friend chuckled and put his hand in.  
"To the power of six!" They all exclaim as they all put their hands in. Guess they were doing the superhero thing after all.

* * *

The next day, after Hiro got home from school he was in a better mood than he had the past few days.

"Hi Hiro!" Ari walked up to him waving. "You're in a good mood today, anything good happened at school?"  
"Yeah, Professor Granville said I could work in my brother's lab!" Hiro replied. "I was talking to her about what she said to me on balance and it ended with that."  
"Sounds great Hiro!" She pulled him into a hug "Glad you're doing better."  
"Thanks Ari." He returned the hug. "But uh… Professor Granville mentioned that you visited the school looking for me, how come?"  
Ari stepped back to explain. "I noticed how bothered you were for the past few days, I suspected Fred for a bit but decided that getting an answer at your school would be good." She described the whole story of how she was escorted by Sara and met her siblings to criticizing his professor on her words to Hiro.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that Ari." Hiro told her, though her concern for him felt nice, it reminded him of when Tadashi used to bail him out of his bot-fights. He mentally chuckled at those memories, oh how done his brother was with him in those days.

"I wanted to." She stared at him with her determined blue eyes. "You had been so nice to me, and I want to make up for all the kindness you and your aunt have shown me."  
"You've been helping Aunt Cass a lot in the cafe." Hiro argued. "You don't have to make it up to me."  
"I just don't want to be a burden…"  
"You're not a burden Ari!" Hiro exclaimed hearing her say that for the tenth time was making him mad. "Stop calling yourself that!" He gave her a strong hug.

Ari said nothing as she felt the warmth of the hug. _This feels… familiar._ She couldn't place the memory but she did recall someone giving her a hug in this situation a long time ago.

"I'm sorry for making you upset." Ari sighed.  
"Say that you're not a burden and I'll forgive you." Hiro didn't let go.  
"You're not a burden."

"That's not what I meant Ari."  
"Fine… I'm not a burden."  
"Say it again like you mean it,"  
"I'm not a burden." Hiro released her.

"Remember that, okay?" As he walked over to chat with his aunt, Ari repeated the statement. _I'm not a burden… I'm not a burden… I'm not a burden to anyone._

* * *

Later, the heroes did their first night patrol together.

"We didn't set out to be superheroes."

Hiro flew on Baymax, they zoomed past buildings and left a trail of smoke past them.

"But sometimes, life can be unexpected."

Fred leapt into the sky, breathing out fire from his suit.

"The good thing is, my brother wanted to help a lot of people,"

Gogo sped past a train with her skates, outspeeding the machine. She jumped into the air and skidded down the street.

"And that's what we're going to do."  
Honey Lemon traveled through the city using her chem balls, sliding to a rooftop with Wasabi cutting the goop left behind with his plasma blades.

"Who are we?" His friends leaped into the air, adrenaline in their veins as they embarked on the first steps to superheroism. And maybe… maybe they'll solve the mystery of Ariel Rosemary and why she was captured in the first place.

But none of them knew that the person who first captured Ari in the first place was staring at them on a screen in a dark, ominous room. He stared at the team of superheroes on screen, no matter who they were his plans would not be stopped.

"Big Hero 6…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My nerd children the Fern kids have arrived! They're spunky aren't they? Tell me which one do you like the most in the review section!
> 
> Now you guys know why Yama wanted Ari, it's because a certain big bad wanted to obtain her. But she's in the clear now.
> 
> Also I am done with the "Baymax Returns" part of the fic, yayy!
> 
> Next time: Hiro meets another SFIT student, and Ari runs into some colorful characters *wink* See you next week for "Issue 188"


	5. Chapter 4: (Issue 188) Dance Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro meets a SFIT student his age: Karmi. Ari joins them for lunch, and at night she runs into some... colorful characters

It had been a few days since Granville gave Hiro access to his brother's lab. He was still shocked the dean did that but it was nice working in said lab, It helped him adjust to school in a comforting way. Right now he was wearing a virtual reality headset and doing the opposite of work.

"Woah, cool!" Virtual reality was showing him the ocean, he held out his hand to a virtual fish that got close to him.  
"Mr. Hamada?" He was so focused on the screen that he didn't notice Granville entering the lab.

"Mr. Hamada!" A shark appeared, snapping at him. He blinked in confusion until realizing that it was _Granville's voice_ speaking from said shark and quickly took off the headset to see the dean staring down at him.

"Follow please!" He complied.  
"Uh, Professor Granville." Hiro started stuttering.. "I was just uh, taking a little break. You know, studies show all work and no-"  
"Do not play me." Granville glared, unamused with his antics.

Hiro stopped that train of thought. "Fair enough, so what's up?" _I hope it's not about grades._

"I would imagine being a fourteen year old surrounded by college students presents certain… social and emotional challenges." Hiro could only frown. He had his friends here so it's not like he was alone, Ari would occasionally visit the labs and keep him company while he worked, and there were some of his classmates like David who were nice to hang with.

"No, n-not really." He eventually spoke up. "But hey, I'm sure whatever you have in mind is gonna show me just how wrong I am."

* * *

He followed the dean into another lab that was darkly lit. As they walked in he felt a chill up his spine at the sight of vials being filled with strange liquids. At the end of the room was something or rather _someone_ at work. To his surprise? _She_ was not much older than him.

"Mr. Hamada, meet Karmi." Granville introduced.

Hiro flinched a little when Karmi turned around, in his defense she had giant needles in her arms and he couldn't even see her eyes with those large cloudy goggles. But quick as a whip she put the needles and goggles away and turned on the light.

"Hiro!" Karmi's reddish-brown eyes gleamed with something as she walked over. "When Professor G asked me to connect with you, I thought this was gonna be super great! And it is so great! The greatest!"

He was a little unnerved by her sudden enthusiasm. "Uh, h-hello." And took a couple steps back as he waved.

Granville could only smile at their interactions. "Karmi was the youngest student ever admitted into San Fransokyo Tech." She explained to Hiro.  
"Until you!"

"So she knows what you are going through." He tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh, I-I'm going through something? That's news to me."  
"Now you know, here's what we're going to do."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"You." Granville nudged him towards Karmi.

"So super!" Who was still staring at him with a grinning expression.

"I want you to 'hang' with Karmi, I think you can learn something from her socialization experiences." Hiro internally groaned. _I have no time for a play date!_

"Um, sure. I could probably do Thursday morning-"  
"Every day! All week! Keep a journal, I want a full report by Friday!" She stated. Hiro felt his jaw almost drop to the ground. _Are you kidding me right now?_

He did not ask for this, he really did not.

"Bye Professor G!" Karmi waved as the dean left them alone. "So fun to have a new friend!" But once Granville was out of sight, she turned to Hiro with a cold sneer.

"Here's the deal, stay out of my face. Stay out of my space." She pushed him away.

He shot her this look of confusion at the sudden switch in behavior. "Uh, what happened to hanging?"  
Karmi glared back at him. "Of course you'd ask that. You think you're some special white blood cell- She poked him in the chest to emphasize her point. "But you're nothing but a common red blood cell!" Then stomped back to her lab table.

He could only stare at her, dumbfounded. "Wh-what?" _What just happened?_  
"Shark attack!" He turned around to see Fred had gotten ahold of his virtual reality headset and ran like a headless chicken, tripping on the floor due to the chord.

"I'm going to check on him." Hiro excused himself to see if the comic fan was injured or not. "You alright Fred?"  
Fred got up. "Yeah, except I almost got eaten by a shark!" Hiro could only shake his head.

"Can you put the headset back Fred?"  
"Oh right, sure!" Fred picked up the headset from the ground and went to bring it back to his lab. With that out of the way Hiro reluctantly went back over to Karmi.

* * *

"So." Hiro turned to Karmi. "What are you doing?"  
"Checking on my viruses." She huffed. "Couldn't you tell?"

Hiro ignored that comment, and merely looked around the lab as she was looking at a petri dish via microscope, notebook in her hands. "Observing mutated virus, day 57." She narrated. Hiro was playing with the mechanical arm in her lab but stopped when it tried grabbing him. "Looking good A1-004!"

Hiro flashed her a weird look. "You uh… you talk to the virus?" He questioned as she was writing something down.

She narrowed her eyes. "That was a private conversation! But yes, A1-004 is a dear friend. As are-" Karmi then pointed to the other sticker decorated petri dishes on her lab table. "R69-5, L4-382, and 95-414, who I'm still getting to know."

Her affectionate gestures to the petri dishes creeped him out. "Okay… sure." Hiro scooted away.  
"Oh you think talking to viruses is weird?" She glared, pointing her pen at him. "You, the kid who talks to a mechanical snowman." He had to admit the snowman comment was a _little_ funny but still, not cool. "At least my dangerous microscopic organisms are actually alive."

"Viruses don't count as organisms, they aren't alive." Hiro pointed out, Karmi huffed in response. "Alright, no judgement. Can we just move on? I need to put something in the journal for Granville." As much as he was loathing this assignment the dean gave him, he didn't want to fail.  
Karmi could care less. "Not my problem, just make me look good because I _want this to be a wonderful experience for you!_ " Granville had walked back into the lab so Karmi switched back to a happy fake persona.  
Hiro stared at Granville, then back at Karmi. "Oh, you are good..." He muttered under his breath.

"Karmi, take Mr. Hamada to lunch at the dining hall." Granville told Karmi, a fond smile on her face for some reason. "My treat."

"So super!" The biotech major lied through her teeth. Hiro flashed her a deadpan look.

"Get acquainted you two, have fun." Granville told them as she left once more. "Mandatory fun!"

"Super great idea! On it!" Hiro continued to roll his eyes at Karmi's acting as she went to put her viruses away. "I'm sorry A1-004, I know we were gonna do a DNA-extraction over lunch but you're just gonna have to incubate a little longer." She put the virus away with a smile. "Let's go Genius Boy." She huffed at him, walking out of the lab to go to the cafeteria.

"And Granville thinks _I_ need socialization help?" Hiro grumbled to himself as he followed.

* * *

As Hiro followed Karmi in awkward silence, angrily thinking what the heck Granville was thinking to make him spend time with such an irritating girl, he felt his phone chime. He checked it and to his happiness, it was Ari.

Ari: Hey Hiro! I'm visiting for lunch today : ) but I forgot to bring my lunch as I was halfway there on the bus lol so you might have to buy me lunch

He chuckled at the text. _Oh Ari_ … At least she wasn't being hard on herself as she was a few days ago.

Hiro: Sure, try not to make it a habit. I have a budget!  
Ari: Thanks Hiro! : D

When getting to the cafeteria, Hiro continued to follow Karmi until they got to a table that was away from where he usually sits. _Ari's not gonna know where I am when she gets here. Better send her a message._

Hiro: Btw I'm sitting somewhere else today, I'm sitting close to where the food is though

Ari: Weird but okay!

"Hey, who are you texting?" Hiro looked up from his phone and noticed Karmi staring at him in curiosity. On her plate was a bowl of cashew chicken and rice, a carton of milk, and a fruity drink of a flavor he didn't know.

"Ari." Hiro stated.

Karmi rolled her eyes. "I have no idea who that is."

"She sometimes comes over to school and we have lunch together."  
"Oh." He went back to eating his packed lunch. "Is she your girlfriend?"  
The comment made him choke on his sandwich. Karmi looked concerned and took a few steps as if she was about to run for help, but he managed to cough it down. "Gross! No!" The idea of him and Ari… _You know what I don't even want to entertain that idea._

Ironically, that was the moment the sweater girl herself hopped on over to their table.  
"Hey Hiro!" Ari happily greeted him. "Made a new friend?" She noticed the biotech major.

"Yes!" He shouted before Karmi could speak. "This is Karmi, I'm going to go buy you your lunch don't go anywhere!'' And he rushed off, leaving the two of them alone.

Ari stared in confusion. "Huh. He was not that active this morning."

"I've seen you before." Karmi realized. "I noticed you in the cafeteria one day and you waved at me." Ari gave her a quizzical look for a few moments, then recognized her.  
"Oh! You were the pretty student that was scribbling something and surrounded by books!" Ari exclaimed.

"Pretty?" The biotech major blushed red. "Surprised you remember me. after you waved Sara Ferns dragged you off somewhere like she usually does."

"Yeah I was looking for Hiro that day." Ari told her, going into a bit of detail about her concerns before pausing. "Does Sara do that a lot?"  
"Mhmm." Karmi nodded. "I see her drag her brother and Mikan somewhere all the time."  
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'her brother and Mikan?'" Ari frowned. "Mikan is Sara's sibling too."

"Yeah, but they always call her 'semi-adopted' so I feel like she's not."  
"Semi-adopted?"  
"Well-"  
"Ari I got your lunch!" Hiro showed up back at the table and unintentionally interrupted Karmi. He placed a tray that had a burger with fries on the side and a cup of soda.

"Thanks Hiro!" Ari smiled, happy to spend lunch with _two_ friends instead of one!

Except… as the rest of the lunch continued Ari noticed that Hiro and Karmi were giving each other funny looks. And when she got up to get some napkins she came back to the two of them arguing, but both of them stopped when seeing her come back like a child caught red-handed stealing cookies. She didn't talk to either of them for the rest of the meal.

 _That's weird…_ Ari lamented as she ate her fries. _Guess they don't get along…_

So much for having a new friend then.

* * *

**Mikan Ferns adds Hiro Hamada and 6 others to "Ferns and Nerds"  
**Mikan Ferns: Hi welcome to Chilis

Sara Ferns: Mika I cannot believe you start a group chat with that

Fredilicous24: Lol good one XD

Ariel Rosemary: What is this?

Wasabi: ^^^

Mikan Ferns: I thought it would be nice to start a group chat with my sibs and you nerds!

Hiro Hamada: How did you get our contact information?

Honey Lemon: Mikan asked me! I'm excited about the idea of a group chat with all of you!  
Gogo: There goes my notifs, and Fred, what is your username?

Fredilicous24: Jeez Gogo it's for fun! A cool group chat can't be cool if everyone has boring usernames!  
Ariel Rosemary: Oooh I want a cool username!  
Mikan Ferns: As admin of this chat I give thee a username

**Mikan Ferns changes Ariel Rosemary to TheLittleMermaid**

Sara Ferns: PFFFFFFTTTT XD LOL

TheLittleMermaid: And I take it back…

* * *

_Later during night patrol..._

"What is Karmi's problem?!" Hiro paced back and forth on the skyscraper's rooftop, reflecting over the afternoon. It was bearable when Ari showed up but when she left for five seconds it went sour, and everyone had spent the rest of lunch giving each other the cold shoulder.

" _Without a thorough scanning, I am unable to determine if she suffers from any health anomalies._ " Baymax pointed out.  
"I think it's just her freaking personality."  
" _Are you really not getting this?_ " He looked up as Gogo's voice buzzed from the comms, she skated down from a billboard sign over to them. "Karmi doesn't have friends. The only thing she had going for her? Being the youngest genius at the school. Now? That's your thing, you took her thing."

Hiro felt frustrated at that "explanation." _A thing?_ He didn't think being the youngest genius at the school was a thing to take in the first place!  
"I-I don't want it to be my thing!" He stammered. "I have my own thing!"

Baymax's voice distracted him from his thoughts. " _My scanner is picking up a disturbance, nine blocks to the west."_  
"And there's my thing now!" He gestured, hopping onto the robot's back. "C'mon, let's go."  
Gogo smirked. "Don't have to tell me twice 'Genius Boy.'"

"Heyyy!" He cried in offense as she jumped on and Baymax took off.

* * *

Nearby said disturbance ironically was Ari and David, walking down the road. The latter had offered the former to go out for a bite at Noodle Burger, which ended up being a fun hangout to learn more about each other. Now they were just walking home since it was late for the younger teen.

"So, Ari." David spoke up, his hands gripping his white cane as he carefully followed. "Do you like San Fransokyo so far?"  
"Yeah, it's a colorful place." Ari chirped. "Hey uh… do you know anyone named Karmi at your school?"  
"Karmi Khan?" David raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she majors in Biotech like Mika. Keeps to herself, Sara and I used to invite her to our study groups but she kept declining so we gave up."

"Really?" The sweater girl frowned in confusion. "She was so friendly to me during lunch."  
"Yeah she's usually more chatty to kids." David explained to her. "Mika is the only one of us who still tries to reach out to her, though I think that just made her more distant."

"Huh, she did mention at lunch that Mikan was different than your sister." Ari recalled. "Something about being 'semi-adopted.'"  
David winced. "Well, she's not wrong. Mika stays at our house when she's not at her dad's."  
"Her dad?" Ari tilted her head. "I thought Mikan was adopted by Sara's uncle and aunt like you."  
"Yeah, it's a long complicated story that can't be told by a walk." He shrugged. "Just accept this response for now and maybe I'll tell you the rest one day."  
"Alright." They both continued to walk in silence, until both of them heard the sound of… music? "What's that? It sounds like some funky pop song… and there's a crowd?" It was downtown and she could hear someone blasting music down the street as people cheered.

"I think I hear some of my classmates." David frowned. "Maybe we shouldn't go!"

She huffed. "I'm going!"  
"Ari wait!" Ari ran with David on her heels, she managed to lose him by squeezing in front of the crowd. Greeting her eyes despite the blinding light was something intriguing and downright _amazing_ that pulled her in. An electric orb floating above the street, shooting out lightning to brighten up the city. Two people were dancing near their orbs, their backs away from the crowd, the music strongest near them. The crowd cheered, and Ari cheered alongside them as she listened to the beats and enjoyed the show.

_Turn up! Who's got the power?_

_Turn up! Turn up the power!  
We've got dance power!_

The dancers face the crowd and Ari could get a better look at them. They both were blonde women with cocoa brown eyes, with outfits that had the same energy as an 80's dance video Cass showed her one time. The older woman had a more heftier build than the younger one, her hair was lighter blonde with a pink streak sticking up all over the place. She wore a purple and black outfit with pink leg warmers. The younger girl was more slender and taller, her hair was a darker blonde with a purple streak. She wore a pink and black outfit with purple leg warmers, both of the dancers had grey and blue gauntlets on their wrists. The electricity from the orb seemed to connect to both of them.

"Okay Juniper!" The older woman danced as she spoke to the younger girl. "Practice is over, I want you to show me you have 'it'!"  
"Oh you know I have 'it." Juniper smirked, also dancing as she spoke. "Cuz I'm about to bring it!" As she tapped the ground there was an electrical surge in her steps.

_Electricity! Surge through me!  
Spotlights shine on my behind!_

Spotlights shined on the older woman, then Juniper, and then the spotlights shined on both of them as they dance.

_Who's got the power? Hey!_

_We've got dance power!_

Electricity danced on their fingertips, it struck the nearby ATMs. The older woman blew electric kisses at the light that shut them off.

_Who's got the power?_

_We've got dance power!_

Juniper seemed to notice that Ari had been keeping direct eye contact at her as she danced. She stared back, smirking, and then grabbed Ari's hand, pulling her into the dance. Ari had no idea how to respond so she just went along with the movements. Juniper spun and Ari flung onto the other side of the street, she clapped as the rest of the crowd chuckled and cheered.

_Who's got the power?_

_Hey! We've got dance power-_

_Megawatt amplifier,_

_I'm a real live wire._

_Whoo!_

The money from the ATMs flew out of the machine, with both dancers continuing their routine as the machines exploded and created a blue smoke.

_Circuit breaker, (uh huh)_

_Head shaker (uh huh)_

_No faker_

_Money taker uh-huh!_

As the two dancers collected the fallen money from the ATM machines, Ari looked up and saw a familiar red robot in the sky and landing on the ground. On top of the red robot were familiar purple and yellow armored superheroes.

* * *

"Umm..." The- _Purple… might be easier to call them by their colors Ari._ She thought to herself as he glanced at his teammate and then back at the dancers. "I'm not sure what's going on here? But you're going to have to give the money back!"  
"I'm a STAR!" Juniper exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air while the other dancer continued to collect money from the ATM. "You don't interrupt a star when she's leaving it all on the stage!"

Purple merely raised an eyebrow. "Uh… and you are?"

Both dancers backflipped onto the street.

"I'm Barb,"  
"I'm Juniper!"  
"And together we are High Voltage!" They struck a pose, team name formed from the energy orb, and even the funky pop music Ari liked was singing their name as well.

" _Electricity may cause severe burns._ " Red warned them.

"I've got this." Yellow skated towards the dancers.

_High Voltage!_

Barb snapped her fingers as she danced, each snap bringing forth a wave of electricity. Both dancers tap dance electrical blasts at the speeding Yellow, she dodged most but a lucky hit sent her flying.  
"Aaaaah!" Ari winced as some debris was created from the hard crash. Both Red and Purple looked as their teammate crashed and burned.

"Juniper!" Barb turned to her daughter. "I need more flair in those backflips and more sparkle in that smile!"  
"On it!" Juniper did a fancy backflip and clapped her hands together as she landed. Creating a ball of electricity and throwing it at Red's chest.

_We've got dance power!_

Red was shaking from the electrical blast and even Purple fell off of him.

" _Oh no..._ " Red's wings activated and he started to fly away with Purple chasing his runaway teammate.

"Okay we need to power these two freaks down." Yellow threw one of her disks at High Voltage.

"Juniper, electric this!" Barb formed an electric fence with her gauntlets.  
"Oh yeah, let's go!" Juniper completed the fence and they both use it to backfire the disk at Yellow.

"2 5 7 8!" _That isn't even the correct saying!_ Ari huffed but she was too entranced by the show to comment aloud.

The disk struck Yellow and she fell to the ground, her teammates still scattered.

_High Voltage!_

"Juniper! Juniper!" The crowd cheered for the dancers, or rather just Juniper as they continued collecting money.

"And Barb!" Barb pointed out, glancing at the audience as she collected money. The sweater girl started cheering both of their names after that comment.

"I love you Juniper!" Someone from the audience exclaimed. It was a boy in an SFIT shirt, David in the crowd was borderline growling in anger at him for his comment. _Why though?_

"She's robbing an ATM!" Purple also snapped at the guy, rewarding him with a bolt to the sides via Barb.

"No! We're telling a story through dance!" She retorted, Juniper cutely swung the duffle bags in a purple car. The orb flew into the car engine and powered it up. Barb and Juniper backflipped in the car and departed from the scene.

_We've got dance power!_

"We love you all!" Juniper yelled to the crowd while they drove away, the crowd cheering a goodbye as they went.

"Uhg!" Yellow groaned, Purple is staring at the direction High Voltage drove away as Red still spun in the air.

* * *

It wasn't until after the superheroes flew away to lick their wounds that Ari processed what she witnessed. She watched two crime-dancers perform a show, rob an ATM, zap Big Hero 6 who saved her life, and drove away from the scene of the crime. It should've been bad but she… enjoyed watching it? It looked fun, the funky pop music was still playing in her head, and she liked it when pretty Juniper pulled her into the dance-

_Hold on a second..._

Where did that thought come from?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay time for some explanations
> 
> The texting thing is just a nice little transition in-between scenes and it's fun to write, will do my best to not go overboard (I end up going overboard. no regrets!)
> 
> Karmi's last name hasn't been revealed (yet) so I'm dubbing thee surname "Khan", it's a popular choice I've seen and it fits her n.n... if/when her surname is revealed I'll change it to that
> 
> I'm writing in High Voltage's musical stings every time it happens you can't stop me I will get it stuck in your head : )
> 
> *exhale* now that's outta the way this was one of my chapters to write, Karmi shows up, my favorite villains show up, everything is fun to watch! What's the deal with Ari at the end? Well... you may guess it but if not the answer will be soon enough


	6. Chapter 5: (Issue 188) Voltage Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro laments about last night. Ari has a conversation with Karmi. When High Voltage strike again, a certain someone feels feelings afterwords

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: I s2g if I catch ONE more student singing that stupid funky pop song I'm gonna scream

Fredilicous24: It's catchy though! Nice ring to it!  
Gogo: -_-

Hiro Hamada: It was from crime dancers! Even Ari thinks it's catchy!  
TheLittleMermaid: It's stuck in my head! I can't help it!  
Sara Ferns: While David thought the song sounded cool and according to Ari the dancing was awesome, he is disappointed that it was just a crime dance

Gogo: Why isn't he on chat?  
Sara Ferns: Still yet to replace his phone  
Gogo: understandable, have a nice day

Wasabi: But them dance moves

TheLittleMermaid: IKR?! 10/10 can dance better than me

* * *

Hiro groaned at the group chat, putting his phone away. "They got applause… the bad guys! People clapped for the bad guys!" The gang were in the cafeteria as him and Gogo reported last night's fumble.

Gogo slouched on her chair as she popped her gum. "Telling a story through dance..." She muttered under her breath. "Yeah right."  
"Well it was the story of kicking our butts." Hiro tried to sit up but his back flared from pain. He was still sore from where Barb hit him with electricity and what was even worse was that Ari… _Ari_ thought the act was cool! He didn't realize she was there until he saw a video of the whole encounter, and almost threw his computer in the air when he got to the part Juniper was swinging Ari around the street. It… bothered him for a reason, perhaps because Ari kept singing their _stupid funky pop song!_ She had joined them for lunch but Mikan dragged her away for _some_ reason, so it was a good time to talk about superhero stuff while she wasn't in earshot.

"Ohhh and there's gonna be more butt-kicking." Wasabi placed his hands to his head, wincing. "Why did I choose a yoga elective over martial arts?!"

"One you centered yourself, two you strengthen your core and three, you love the big ball!" Honey Lemon comforted him, bringing up the positives instead of the negatives.  
"Yeah." It worked. "I do love the big ball."  
"Colorful villains-" They turn to Fred who appeared, dramatically narrating as usual. "Underestimated because of their ridiculous personas? Like so many things… it was foretold in comic books!"  
"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, but then again not like it's the first time Fred referred to comic book logic for solutions.  
"Yeah! We should go run out and study a bunch of comic books to figure out how to beat High Voltage!" Gogo sarcastically scoffed. "Like that'll work..."  
He drummed the table. "It'll work! In this case I choose one issue in particular, Captain Fancy Issue 188!"

"Don't ask… don't ask… don't-" But curiosity got the better of poor Gogo. "And what happened in Captain Fancy Issue 188?"  
"Captain Fancy lost battle after battle to a mother-daughter acrobat duo!"  
"Wow, that is similar." Honey Lemon noted. "High Voltage is a mother-daughter dancing duo that have acrobatic skills." Fred hummed in agreement.

"Did they have a floating shock generator as well?" Hiro dryly questioned.

"Close, they had a trained bear named Grizzlovitch! Real deadly."  
Gogo popped her gum. "Shouldn't have asked..."

Hiro saw someone in the corner of his eye, and winced. "Speaking of fighting a bear..."  
It was Karmi, surrounded by books and scribbling something down. He knew that he had to talk to her for the sake of finishing the darn journal assignment, but he wasn't going to like it.

He exhaled. "Wish me good luck." Then walked on over to the bear's den. "Hi Karmi! Hanging out in the cafeteria too I see, heh heh..." He nervously chuckled.

Karmi looked up, frowning. "Uhg." And looked back down to her book.

"So I was thinking…" He started rambling in a stubborn attempt to get _some_ response. "Maybe Granville is right, maybe the two youngest students should-" His train of thought halted when he got a good look at Karmi's drawing that she was working on, an anime-style version of his hero persona surrounded by flowers and hearts, "Wait is that-?"  
He reached his hand out but Karmi snapped the book and glared at him. "Eyes on your own work creeper!" She then grabbed all of her books and laptop, and walked away from him.

"That's it, I'm having a chat with her..." Hiro yelped as he turned around and saw Ari had got back, and she heard the entire exchange.

"Wait Ari-" He tried calling her back but the sweater girl ignored him and followed after Karmi.

"That is not going to end well." Hiro groaned, but he was smart enough to not get involved with an argument between her and _Karmi_. So he went back to his friends table. They still needed to figure out how to beat High Voltage after all.

* * *

 _Uhg! Who does that guy think he is?_ Karmi grumbled to herself as she retired to her lab. _Stupid Hiro… can he just leave me alone for five seconds? Take a hint already!_  
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "If that's you Mikan you better leave me alone!" She snapped at it, but as the door opened it revealed itself to be Ari. "Oh uh… you're good."

"Hey Karmi." Ari nervously waved. "Can we talk?"  
"Uh… sure?" The biotech major shrugged, a little confused.  
"You don't seem to get along with Hiro." Ari noted. "Why is that?"  
Karmi blinked. "Well… why do you care?"  
"Hiro's my friend." The sweater girl glared. "I don't want to see him getting picked on." _Oh great._ it was the case of an overprotective friend.

"No I wouldn't pick on him!" Karmi rapidly shook her head. "I just want him to leave me alone!"

"Why do you want Hiro to leave you alone?" Ari stepped closer.

 _Why couldn't she leave it be?_ "I just do! I don't have to explain myself!" She stepped back in shock, her eyes starting to water. Karmi realized what she had done and felt the guilt worm into her chest. _Dangit, she was just caring about her friend, even if you can't stand him._ "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."  
"It's fine." Ari smiled, which made her feel even worse. "I know that you're not the friend kind of person… but I wanna be your friend, you're really cool. So please?" _Ohhh not the puppy eyes!_ Karmi winced seeing those blue eyes stare at her, it reminded her of her younger sister which made it even worse!  
"I guess..." She looked away, not like she could say no to those eyes anyways.

"Yay!" Ari beamed which made Karmi feel better. "By the way, do you know anything about Big Hero 6? I've been in San Fransokyo for weeks but I still know little about them."  
At the mention of the superhero team, Karmi stood up. "You like Big Hero 6?!" Ari nodded. "I am a huge fan of them too! Especially their leader!"  
"Cool, do you know their names?" She asked. "I don't know so I've just been calling them by their colors."  
"Nobody does, so people come up with their own nicknames, myself included." Karmi replied. "But they're super cool protecting the city!"  
"Yeah, they are!" Ari then stared at the clock. "Gotta go now, can I come back tomorrow?"  
"Uh… if it's no trouble then sure?"

The sweater girl squealed, then skipped out of the lab. "Bye Karmi!"

Karmi could only shake her head and chuckle once she was gone. "Ah, kids. Got to love them for their energy." At least Ari wasn't as judgy as Hiro.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Honey Lemon: Look at this adorable picture of Mochi that Ari sent me!  
Honey Lemon: Cute_Cat40,jpeg

Sara Ferns: Awwww! I showed my aunt Sally and she loves it!  
Hiro Hamada: Is that why she was smiling as she taught the class?

Sara Ferns: "No that means you will be getting a test in a few days" -David

Hiro Hamada: Dangit!  
Gogo: Great….

* * *

"You know, I don't get it..." Hiro kept thinking about that doodle of his hero persona in Karmi's notebook, even as he was flying through the sky with Baymax and Fred on night patrol. "Why would she draw superhero me?"  
"Because Big Hero 6 Hiro is a 'hero Hiro' and 'regular Hiro' is just some run-of-the-mill boy genius." Fred explained.

" _But there is only one Hiro._ " Baymax turns to face Fred.  
"In this dimensional timeline!" The buzzing of the comms paused the conversation. "Yes?" Fred answered the call.

" _It's High Voltage, again!_ " Gogo exclaimed on the other line, sending the location.

"Let's go." Hiro nodded, and they were off to face the crime-dancers once more.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

"Why did I agree to spy on High Voltage in a tree with you again Mikan?" Ari groaned. She was with the snow-haired girl in a nearby tree spying on the duo via binoculars. Mikan had proposed it during lunch and for _some_ reason Ari agreed to it because not like she had anything else going on in her life.

"Because one, David doesn't like them, two, Sara doesn't like them, and _three,_ Mom doesn't like them! She got really upset when she heard David was near one of those shows." Mikan rambled. "And I for one want to see why my fellow classmates like them."

"Huh, that's odd." Ari hummed in amusement. She still couldn't place the weird feeling in her chest as she watched High Voltage through the binoculars.

The crowd was cheering as Barb collected money from a truck, the police were tied up beside the truck and nobody paid attention to that detail. "Juniper! Juniper!" The crowd cheered.  
"My dreams are coming true!" Juniper exclaimed, throwing electric kisses to the audience. "You hear that Mama they love me! They really love me!"  
"Us, Juniper." Barb threw her hands up in annoyance "They love us!"

"Hey!"

* * *

They looked up as Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon were there to face them. "You two got lucky last time!" Gogo told them, sliding down the rails for the attack.

"Juniper!" She turned to her mama. "Squat dance! With feeling!"

_High Voltage!_

Juniper backflipped and kicked electrical blasts at Gogo once landing, and once more Gogo got hit by a lucky blow and she fell to the ground.

"Probably not the best time right now-" Wasabi gestured. "But your dance moves are perfection!"

"She does have my thighs." Barb kicked bolts at him, he yelped and barely dodged.

_High Voltage!_

As the crowd cheered during the fight, a certain reddish-brown eyed brunette walked to the front, staring at the heroes with awe.

"Rubber insulates electricity!" Honey Lemon tossed one of her chem balls at High Voltage, but they dodge out of the way and the goop struck a nearby tree instead.

Juniper then grabbed the electric orb and fired blasts that sent Honey Lemon _flying._ Luckily Hiro, Baymax, and Fred arrive just in time for the latter to grab Honey Lemon's hand and they all land back into the fight.

The brunette snapped a photo of Hiro and giggled.

_We've got dance power!_

Barb and Juniper formed an electric orb and fired it straight at them.

"Watch out!" Hiro shouted as the orb homed in on him and Baymax, they flew up but got hit anyways. Once more the pain of the electricity caused Hiro to fall off, but once more Fred caught his fellow teammate.

"Baymax!" Hiro cried out to the malfunctioning robot.  
" _Power power surge, power power surge, power-_ " Baymax ended up firing a rocket fist that struck down the street lamp by the crowd. Everyone screamed and ran out of the way, except for one person who was so busy staring at the picture she took she didn't see the lamp about to fall on her. By the time she looked up it was too late to run, her reddish-brown eyes staring up in horror.

Hiro leapt out of Fred's arms, grabbing the girl and leaping before the lamp fell on them. Once safe, Hiro looked down at the damsel.

"Are you alright-AH!" He gasped as the person he rescued was none other than-  
"I am now..." Karmi smiled, snapping a picture of her rescuer.

* * *

"Phew!" Mikan sighed with relief. "Looks like the little germ was rescued by Prince Charming after all."  
"Wait, that was Karmi?" Ari stared at the girl who Purple rescued, but it was so blurry she had to rub the binocular lenses again. "I think you gave me a faulty pair,"

Mikan huffed. "Hey! They're Steven's!" Then looked back at the fight. "Oof, Big Hero 6 is taking a beating."  
 _Yeah…_ Ari frowned. _They are_ … No matter how hard the superheroes were trying, High Voltage kept zapping them. She _should_ resent the dancers for fighting the good guys and using their talent for evil, right? But somehow she just… _couldn't._ Whenever she tried feeling any sort of negative feeling she just kept thinking of when Juniper pulled her into the dance, and that filled her with warmth.

It was… weird, Ari didn't like weird.

"Ari… don't move." Mikan's worried voice snapped her back to reality with confusion, but then she heard it.

_Crack!_

The sickening sound of the branch she was sitting on beginning to break. _When Pink threw that chem ball at the branch, it started weighing on it!_ Another crack made her stumble, her body dangling as her arms barely clung onto the branch.

"What do I do?" Ari panicked, feeling the gravity of the situation weighing down on her.

"Calm down..." Mikan started scooting towards her branch. "I'm gonna grab you so stay pu-"  
 _CRACK!  
_ The branch snapped in two, taking Ari with it.  
She screamed in terror as the ground hurtled towards her. "AAAAAHHH!" She shut her eyes, bracing for the sickening impact.

Her scream caught the attention of someone, who stopped blasting her opponent to catch the falling sweater girl.

She stopped screaming when the feeling of falling faded, someone had caught her, but who? _Big Hero 6? Was it Yellow?_ There was a bit of blurry yellow in her vision, but she opened her eyes more to get a better look at her rescuer.

"Hey, are you alright?" Warm cocoa brown eyes stared with down with honest concern, blonde hair a little messy from the fight.

"Umm…" Ari felt her face turn to mush as Juniper's soft expression made the funny feeling in her chest grow tenhold. "M'fine…" She could only look back at the beautiful face staring back at her- _wait what?_

Juniper smiled. "Thank goodness. It would be awful if something bad happened to someone so cute." She gently placed Ari back on the ground, then backflipped to her mama as they escaped the scene with the stolen money once more.

Mikan slid down the tree as the superheroes circled over with concern. "Woah! That was close!" She rushed to Ari's side. "Are you okay? Are you in shock?!"

"She called me cute..." Ari mumbled, placing a hand to her cheek as a goofy grin was on her face.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Hiro Hamada: MIKAN FERNS

Mikan Ferns: Oh snap D :

Hiro Hamada: What did you do to Ari?!

Sara Ferns: I can't believe you were spying in a TREE during a dangerous fight!

Sara Ferns: "And didn't invite me!" -David

Hiro Hamada: That's not the point I was trying to make!  
Honey Lemon: I think what Hiro means is that you both could have gotten hurt.

Wasabi: Yeah! We should be lucky that someone caught Ari from falling out of a tree!  
Fredilicous24: Who caught Ari?

Hiro Hamada: This conversation is over

Mikan Ferns: Is the noodle angry that their friend was rescued by High Voltage?

Hiro Hamada: Shut up!

* * *

_Next day at SFIT…_

Ari looked around for Hiro, she didn't get a chance to talk to him last night about what happened last night due to her exhaustion. There wasn't a chance this morning either because he and his friends rushed out of the cafe before she could walk off the drowsiness. She _needed_ to talk to him for help, there was this weird fluttering feeling in her chest and she didn't know what to do! It wasn't a bad feeling, it even made her feel nice. But the problem was the feeling kept showing up whenever she thought Juniper!

"Looks like I caught you Genius Boy!" Ari whipped her head around as she heard Karmi accusing Hiro of something, her finger pointed to him and her eyes narrow.

"Oh uh… hey Karmi," Hiro was sweating bullets. "Is there any chance I can convince you to keep this secret?"  
"Eww, do you think I want people to know you have a crush on me?" She gagged. Ari was surprised. _Did Hiro have a crush on Karmi?_

"Eww what?! No!" Hiro exclaimed, he looked disgusted at the thought. _Maybe not… or does he?_

Like her, Karmi didn't buy it. "It's _sooo_ obvious, you're always talking to me all 'hey Karmi, we should work on our project.' N5-4 totally called it." _Who's N5-4?_

"I do not have a crush on you! I was asking about this!" Hiro snatcheds the phone from Karmi and pointed to a picture on it, it was too far for her to get a good look.

"That guy saved my life!" Karmi grabbed her phone back and stared at the picture in a funny manner. "He could say 'hey Karmi' to me any day."  
"Um… okay?" Hiro looked weirded out. "Bye Karmi." He sped away in the direction of the labs. _Maybe I shouldn't bug Hiro._ But maybe Karmi could help?

"Um… Karmi I need your help." The biotech major looked up from her phone to see a conflicted Ari.

"Are you okay?" Karmi felt concerned. "Was Hiro bothering you?"

The sweater girl shook her head. "No it has nothing to do with Hiro..." She noted the new wallpaper on Karmi's phone. "Is that the purple one from Big Hero 6? How did you get his picture?"  
"He saved my life yesterday! I was in the area and noticed a crowd and saw Big Hero 6! Then a lamp almost fell on me and he saved me from it! It was both the scariest and best thing to ever happen!" Karmi squealed.

"Oh" Ari raises an eyebrow, at either Karmi's fangirling or her lack of fear of getting squished. "Why do you like Big Hero 6's leader so much? I'm personally a fan of the yellow one."  
"Well, it's just that he's so brave for saving the city and a hero for doing that..." She looked like she could ramble for hours on why she loved Big Hero 6's leader, she just could.

"Oh, does that make you have a crush on him?" Ari raised an eyebrow. "How does that make you feel?" Karmi blushes and looks away from the girl.

"Oh, it makes me feel this warmth of happiness everytime I think about him! Don't judge me." Karmi glared, as if she expected her to start saying taunts.

But she didn't. "No I wouldn't! But thanks for telling me, I think I know what my problem is now." Ari's cheeks blushed red. "I've… got a crush."  
"On who?" Karmi questioned, Ari didn't mind telling her.

"On-"  
"Ari!" Both girls turned their heads around as Hiro came running back. "What are you doing there-" He saw Ari's red face and jumped to conclusions. "Karmi have you been harassing Ari about something?!" The former gave an offended gasp.

"Hiro!" Ari exclaimed. "She hasn-"  
"Come on!" He started dragging her away. "Stay away from _my_ friend Karmi!" One gone from sight, Karmi gave a gloomy sigh, looking back at the photo of her hero to try and cheer her up a little.

* * *

After Hiro shoved her into the robotics labs, Ari glared at him. "Hiro what the heck was that for!?"  
"I was saving you!" Hiro snapped back. "You've been acting weird for the past few days and if it's because of Karmi I'll-"  
"You'll what?" Ari cut him off. "Hiro, Karmi wasn't doing anything! I was asking for help with a problem!"

"You could have asked me for help!" Hiro exclaimed, he noted his friends in the lab were watching but not getting involved.

"I tried! But you were too busy working on your dumb journal assignment with Karmi, and you give _me_ flack for interacting with her?" Ari felt her blood boiling, she wanted to slap Hiro in the face for his stubbornness. "I'm aware that you both don't get along but for the love of god leave me out of your bicker-" She yelped in pain, bringing a hand to her head as she fell down. "Ow… headache." Hiro went to grab a water for her and a water for him, and handed her the bottle which she gulped down.

"That was a bad one." He noted. "Did you at least remember something from it?" Sometimes Ari's memories returned in the form of severe migraines, most of the time she only got flashes. _I hope she remembered a bit, I feel bad stressing her out._

She nodded. "A little. I remember a sandy beach, someone laughing, and... that's it." Ari sighed. "That someone was really familiar."  
"Were you able to get a good look at who it was?" Hiro questioned

"Their hair looked like mine." She drank the rest of her water. "Sorry for yelling."

"Hey, I should apologize." Hiro frowned. "You're right, I might be having trouble talking to Karmi but I shouldn't drag you into it, and I don't blame you for asking her for help with your problem instead of me."  
Ari just smiled back. "It's fine. I actually found a solution to my problem thanks to both of you!"  
"What was the problem?" Hiro frowned.

"Oh, some weird feelings that I've now figured out is just me having a crush." She smiled.

"A crush?" Hiro didn't even think she was crushing on anyone. "On who?" He took a sip of water.  
"Um it's…" Ari was deeply blushing. "Juniper, from High Voltage."  
At the sound of the crime-dancer's name Honey Lemon and Wasabi whipped their heads around, their faces wide as dinner plates.

As for Hiro? He just started spitting his drink out from the shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST! Hahaha!  
> Sorry not sorry! Betcha didn't see that coming?


	7. Chapter 6: (Issue 188) Lightning Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari and Hiro talk about crushes. Gogo and Fred consults comic books, and Big Hero 6 faces High Voltage once again.

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: "Why was Hiro acting so freaked out in the lab today," -David

TheLittleMermaid: NOTHING, NO REASON, NOTHING TO DO WITH HIGH VOLTAGE

Mikan Ferns: Sure jan

Gogo: What did I miss? I wasn't at the labs because Fred and I are doing research at his house

Wasabi: Honey Lemon and I overheard Ari say that she had a crush on Juniper.

Honey Lemon: It was shocking tbh, and then she ran out before Hiro could say anything.

Fredilicous24: Obvi! She was rescued from a falling tree, why wouldn't Ari develop a crush?

TheLittleMermaid: CAN WE PLEASE DROP THE SUBJECT

TheLittleMermaid: Hiro couldn't even look me in the eyes!

Sara Ferns: It's okay I won't judge you, I've seen worse

Gogo: Worse?

Sara Ferns: "She's been there, on having a crush" -David

Sara Ferns: Sides not like you can do anything, High Voltage only shows up in places to crime-dance, not like you can track them down.

* * *

"I'm not mad at you Ari." Hiro told her when he got home from school with Baymax. She had been helping Cass out in the Lucky Cat Cafe for the rest of the day since… what happened at the lab was a touchy subject for both of them!  
"I wish I could stop feeling things." Ari mumbled. "I had to get a crush on someone who causes problems for the superheroes that saved my life."  
He agreed with her there, but questioning Ari's taste in crushes wasn't going to make this any better. "You'd be a robot if you had no emotions." Hiro sighed, then turned to Baymax. "No offense buddy."  
" _I am a robot, I cannot be offended._ " Baymax pointed out.

Ari smiled. "Thanks Hiro. Did you ever get crushes on anyone?"  
"Nope." He shook his head. "But my brother used to have a lot of people that had a crush on him, including Sara."

"Wait really?" Ari raised an eyebrow. _Sara had a crush on Hiro's brother?_ "Did it never work out or...?"  
"No, my brother didn't like girls at all so Tadashi just saw her as a friend." Hiro replied. "Sara never resented him for that, and continued being a good friend to the both of us until..."  
Ari knew what he was thinking and hugged him. "Hey we can stop talking about this if you want."  
"It's fine, I'm good." Hiro reassured her, but he still got hugged by Baymax.

" _There there, you will be alright._ " Baymax told him, Hiro chuckled.

"Thanks buddy." He patted Baymax's arm. Ari decided to catch up on the group chat, her blue eyes gleamed upon seeing a message from Sara herself.

"Hey Cass!" She called Hiro's aunt, who was serving a customer coffee. "Is it okay if I take a break? I need some fresh air from outside!"  
"Sure thing!" Cass told her. "Be back before it gets dark!"  
"I will!" Ari made sure to grab a muffin before leaving the cafe, not because she was hungry but it could be used as a peace offering. She couldn't stop thinking about Juniper saving her life, she had to thank the crime-dancer, even if it resulted in watching another hero-villain fight but she wanted to thank the pretty girl so she would gosh darn it!

 _Besides, it can't be that hard to find High Voltage anyways._ She hummed.

* * *

It was that hard, Ari was starting to run out of time to search. The sun close to dipping under the skyscrapers, the blue hue of the sky starting to get a little warmer. She walked around a neighborhood that was a bit sketchy. The people who were out looked mean and tough which made her think of calling it quits. Gosh forbid she'd run into Yama again or something _worse_.

"I doubt anything is worse than Yama. Ari muttered under her breath. As she passed by an alleyway two voices buzzed in her ears followed by the sound of someone crushing cans. Curiosity got the better of her so she went to look.

Peeking into the alleyway, Ari snuck behind a trash can.

"Hey Mama why don't you like this neighborhood again?" _That's Juniper!_ Ari poked her head above the trash can to see the pretty blonde arguing with her mama.

"It's a bad neighborhood Juni." Barb answered, sounding hesitant. "Best not to stick around for too long."  
"Yeah, but it's the perfect place to hide! Big Hero 6 wouldn't find us here." Juniper pointed out, raising a finger in the air.

"I know, but we don't want to encounter the wrong kind of people." Barb's voice of motherly concern felt nostalgic and yet foreign to her. Ari felt her cheeks dampen and raised a hand only to find tears. _Why am I crying?_ She sniffled, accidentally bumping into the trash can distracted by her tears. The noise alerted both of High Voltage, and they started looking around for the source of the noise.

 _Oh no I am so dead._ Ari felt the panic in her chest. _This was a bad idea Ari why did you think this was a good idea I am so dead, so dead, deader than dead this was a huge mistak-._

"Hello-?"

"AAAAH!" Ari screamed. "Please don't hurt me please don't hurt me please don't-"  
"Woah, woah woah." Juniper gestured with her hands in an attempt to calm the sweater girl. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."  
Ari took a few minutes to stabilize her breathing, and attempted to hide the blushing from being several feet away from her crush.

"Sorry for the screaming." She mumbled, avoiding eye contact. Her throat felt dry, she was full of words before why couldn't any come out now?!  
"Hey sweetie." Barb was staring at her with a look of concern. "Are you lost?"  
"No." Ari shook her head, "I'm not lost." She looked up at Juniper. "I wanted to thank you."  
"Thank me? For what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"For saving me from falling to death!" Ari exclaimed, a little hurt by the lack of recognition. Was she forgotten so easily? "I fell out of a tree, and you saved me from falling?"  
"Oh." Juniper's eyes widened in realization. "It was nothing, really."  
"Nothing?" Ari stood up in shock. "It wasn't nothing to me! You saved my life!"

Juniper noticed the admiration in Ari's eyes and smugly smirked. "Of course, I'm a star. I do stuff like that all the time."  
"Really?" Ari's eyes widened with stars in them, Juniper opened her mouth to reply but her mama cut her off.

"Juniper, as nice as it is for you to make a new friend, we have to get going soon." Barb told her. "It's a bad idea to stick around for too long."  
"But Mama..." Juniper pouted, staring back with wide puppy eyes.  
Barb shook her head. "That's not going to work on me and you know it."

Ari at first chuckled at the exchange but felt her tears return. _Why?!_ She asked herself, mother and daughter glanced at the sweater girl as she rubbed her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Juniper had a look of concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ari bit her tongue. "It's just allergies, and you can go, it's fine. It's late for me anyways." She then remembered the peace offering in her pocket. "Waiiiit hold on a moment." And pulled out the bag with a blueberry muffin. "Here! For saving my life the other day!"

Juniper's eyes widened with surprise. She looked to her mama then back at the muffin. "Um… I don't think I could take this,"  
Ari was puzzled. "It's just a muffin." She frowned, "I'd like you to have it."  
"But-"  
"Juni just take the muffin." Barb told her. "It's rude to reject a gift."

Juniper sighed, but took the muffin with a smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Ari beamed, a warm feeling bubbling in her chest. "It was nice to properly meet you-"

"Hey Ari is that you over there?!" She yelped as Sara had poked her head into the alley, but luckily she didn't notice High Voltage.

"Hiiiii Sara." Ari winced at her high-pitched tone as High Voltage snuck away before Sara noticed them. In the corner of her eye she saw Juniper giving her a parting wave before vanishing from sight, which her heart sting a little. "What are you doing here?"  
"I live here, in this neighborhood." Sara replied. "What are you doing?"  
"Just taking a walk." Ari lied. "Wait, you live here?" She thought the Ferns would live in a fancy looking neighborhood like Fred. _Guess I was wrong._

"Yep!" Sara hummed. "Want to see?"  
As much as Ari wanted to, she had to head back to the cafe soon. "Nah, I have to head home before it gets dark."  
"Oh, alright." Sara shrugged. "Want me to escort you?"

"You know what? Sure."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Hiro Hamada: Hey Fredilicous24 how's the comic research going? did not get an answer yesterday  
Fredilicous24: Peachy -_-

Gogo: Knucklehead failed to mention that he didn't have Issue 188

Fredilicous24: And now I have to ask my arch-nemesis to see Issue 188! And he's the worst!

Sara Ferns: "Isn't Issue 188 that one Captain Fancy issue that was wiped because it had an inappropriate image that wasn't for kids?" -David

Fredilicous24: Yeah that's the one

TheLittleMermaid: Can I see it with you guys?

Gogo: Nope.

Fredilicous24: No! It's grown-up business!

* * *

"Grown-up business? Really?" Gogo raised an eyebrow at Fred for his message in the chat.

"Hey! Ari would catch on to why we're looking at Issue 188 in the first place!" Fred argued back.

"Right." Gogo sighed. They were looking for Issue 188 because it was the only way for them to defeat High Voltage. However, Fred failed to mention when they were at his mansion yesterday that Issue 188 was in the "clutches of my arch-nemesis." And now they were walking to the comic book store that was no longer closed since yesterday to get their information. Gogo hoped it was worth the trip, she wasn't a comic book fan.

When entering the comic book store, there was a young boy sitting at the counter reading a comic book. He had short brown hair, golden-brown eyes and a mole under his left cheek. Fred gestured for Gogo to go to the counter.

She rang the bell on the counter. "Hey kid is your dad here? We need to talk to the owner."  
The boy handed the comic book to a robotic hand and combed his hair. "You're talking to the owner, dream girl,"

Fred stepped up to her. "Chilling, isn't he?"

She rolled her eyes. "You could say that again." Not even a minute had passed and she wanted to get this over with.

The short boy got up from the counter. "Richardson Mole." He slyly introduced. "San Fransokyo's most eligible eleven year-old, and you are?" He tried to kiss Gogo's hand but she batted him away.

"Much older than you." Gogo glared. Fred frowned at his arch-nemesis for the uncomfortable flirting.

"Nice," Richardson smirked.  
Gogo stepped back. "Fred, go talk to him." He did not blame her for not wanting to deal with Richardson, he was _the_ literal worst.  
"Hey! This is a business call Richardson!" Fred snapped at him. "Let's keep this professional!"  
"Very well." Richardson replied. "What is it that you need from me?"  
"We need to see Captain Fancy Issue 188." Gogo explained. "Fred says you have it."  
"Why yes I do, dream girl." Richardson winked at her, she recoiled in disgust. "It's the very issue I sniped from Fred at that online auction."  
"You cut the power to my house!" Fred pointed out, he was so close to getting it and then the power went off. He knew it was due to foul play because he saw the wire damage himself.  
"Those charges were never proven." Richardson snobbily huffed. Fred roared in anger and attempted to swipe at him were it not for Gogo holding him back.

"Can we just see the dumb comic book!?" She demanded. _The sooner this is over, the better._  
"Oooh I like you angry dream girl," Richardson walked over the phone booth. "Follow me to the Mole Hole!" He pulled the telephone and the floor opened up and dropped him.

 _What just happened?_ Both superheroes questioned. "I'm waiting!" Richardson yelled from below. They squeezed into the booth and it opened up below them.

"Huh." Gogo safely landed on a chair, Fred was not as lucky and his face met the ground. But as he got up, both of them gawked at the "The Mole Hole."

It was a secret arcade, but the theme of all the games had to do with Fred getting hurt, with several of the games having a digital version of him getting injured in one way or another.  
"See?" Fred gestured to Richardson, who was hitting a bunch of cardboard Fred's with a water gun. "I told you he hates me."  
"Beat my high score on any of these games and I will let you see Captain Fancy 188." Richardson told them. _Geez, maybe it would've been a good idea to bring Ari after all…_ Fred grumbled. The sweater girl hadn't played arcade games until Fred showed her the ones in his house, but she was a pro at them and even beat his high score on some of them.

Gogo walked over to a Whack-A-Mole game, but the heads were Fred heads. "Whack-A-Fred," she picked up a mallet. "Let's do this one."  
"Oooh, poor choice." Richardson warned, she frowned at him. "This game is my favorite and my high score is-"  
Gogo just started the game and began whacking Fred heads. Richardson watched with a smirk while Fred winced as her smile got more sinister with each head vibe-checked into oblivion.

" _High score!_ " The game announced. And Gogo slammed the mallet down.

"I'm impressed."  
"I'm concerned." _Not to self Fred, don't anger Gogo or it's your actual head next._

With the game complete, Richardson pressed a button to make one of the video games reveal a secret safe.

"Gum." Richardson gestured with his tonsils. Gogo took her gum out of her mouth and handed it to the tonsils. He sniffed it. "Strawberry, nice." She looked at the boy with disgust as he pressed a button on his safe to open it.

" _Hello me._ " The safe confirmed his ID and opened to reveal the elusive Captain Fancy Issue 188. The one copy left in the world was footsteps away from them!  
"It's beautiful." Fred squealed in delight. Richardson may be obnoxious but he at least kept his comic books in good condition.

"Oh just give it." Gogo attempted to grab the comic but Fred stopped her hand.  
"Ah but but but! Gloves!" Fred pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket. "We don't want to mess up the pages!"

Gogo gave him a deadpan stare. _This is not worth the trouble._

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Mikan Ferns: rip,jpeg

Mikan Ferns: Rest in Peace N5-4, Hiro killed him.

Sara Ferns: "RIP" -David and I

TheLittleMermaid: Who's N5-4?! And Hiro did what?!

Sara Ferns: Karmi gives the viruses she studies cute names!... And then Hiro killed one

TheLittleMermaid: HIRO

Hiro Hamada: It was an accident! Don't guilt me!

Hiro Hamada: Wait how did you know Mikan

Mikan Ferns: Heard yelling, saw you running, went to investigate and saw 1 sad Karmi.

TheLittleMermaid: Aww I should go cheer her up tomorrow : C

TheLittleMermaid: Also Hiro where r u, I'm at the cafe

Hiro Hamada: I just left the school! I might be a little late, traffic is terrible and stuff

Sara Ferns: Weird...

* * *

Time had passed, the comic book store had closed by now. Richardson was cleaning dust from the books on a high shelf on top of a ladder. Gogo was watching Fred scroll through Issue 188, since he was a good comic reader he was better suited to look for answers than her.

"Mhmm." Fred hummed as he flipped through the pages, behind them Richardson smirked as a page was coming up. Fred gave a horrified gasp at the page contents, it contained the offending image that got all the Issue 188 issues destroyed in the first place.

"Good luck unseeing that." Richardson grinned at Fred's disgust, Gogo however was not bothered by the image.

"Oh come on, grow up." She nudged Fred. "Read faster!"

"A wise man once said, if you want to find a solution, you shouldn't rush Fred." She yanked his ear. "Ow ow ow! I'll read faster!" He starts flipping through the pages at a more rapid rate.

"Uh huh… good, well this is shedding some new light on the subject." Fred mumbled. Gogo's phone suddenly rang.

Wasabi was calling her. "Yeah?"

" _High Voltage! San Fransokyo Trust! Now!_ " He yelled from the other line.

Fred pumped up his fists. "Yes! I get it! I totally get it!"

"So you actually found an answer in that thing?"

"Couldn't be more clearer." He confirmed.  
She dragged him out of the store. "Great time to roll."

"Come again!" Richardson waved at them. "Not you Fred!"

* * *

_High Voltage_

_We got the power!  
High Voltage_

_We got the power!  
High Voltage!_

Both Barb and Juniper were firing electric blasts at the vault door of San Fransokyo Trust while performing their dance routine.  
"Big finish Juniper!"

"Oh yeah!" She flipped towards the vault door, her feet kicking a blast that knocked the hinges down, leaving the money vulnerable for the taking.

"Now freestyle into that vault and get that cash!" Barb commanded.

"On it!" Juniper started spinning towards the vault but a chem ball created a rubber wall blocking her path.  
"You don't need to steal, you have real talent." Both dancers turn around to see Wasabi and Honey Lemon.

"He actually makes a really good point!" The chemist pointed to her friend. "You guys should audition for Top Feet!"  
Barb scowled. "Stars don't audition!"She sent a bolt of electricity at them and the two yelp as they dodged.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiro and Baymax were flying on their way to the bank to stop High Voltage.

"I-I don't get it!" Hiro exclaimed. "What could I even learn from Karmi? She talks to those things!" While he felt a bit bad about killing her pathogen, she still got on his nerves. "Look, I'm way better adjusted than she is!"

" _True, you have a strong social network for support._ _Karmi does not_." Even Baymax agreed!

At another point in time Hiro would process the implications but he kept thinking about the dumb journal assignment at the moment.

"So why did Granville-?" a loud crash from the bank interrupted his thoughts, they still had to deal with High Voltage. "Let's finish this later,"  
" _I will set a reminder_." Hiro and Baymax sped up their flying and headed down towards the bank.

* * *

_Who's got the power?_

Barb was whipping out electricity to make it impossible for Honey Lemon to fire a chem ball. Wasabi was having trouble landing an attack as well as Juniper kept spinning electricity around her. She then threw a whip of electricity at him. Wasabi yelped and ducked but it hit the concrete pillar behind him. It broke it in two and he screamed as it started falling on him.

" _Hello, Wasabi_." He looked up to see Hiro and Baymax lifting the concrete pillar and tossing it in the other direction.

"Thanks Baymax." He let out a sigh of relief as the robot picked him up from the floor.

" _You will be alright._ " Baymax reassured.

Hiro turned to High Voltage. "Time to power down ladies." He glared. Sooner or later their electric act was going to get someone hurt. Plus they were using it to steal, which was illegal!

"Step off! We're the headliners!" Juniper yelled back. "It's Juniper's time to shine!"  
"Juniper, launch!" Barb ordered. "2 5 7 8!"

She channeled the energy orb's power and used it to launch herself at Hiro and Baymax, but the robot catched her in his grip.

"Got you!" Hiro exclaimed.

Juniper just smugly smirked and held up her fingers that were cackling with electricity. "Not quite."  
" _Oh no…_ " Was all Baymax said as Juniper shocked him. Hiro's eyes widened in horror as he got blasted back once more by the malfunctioning robot and Juniper backflipped away.

Wasabi also got caught in the blast and Honey Lemon fired a chem ball to catch him and Hiro. All three of them were hiding behind a counter as the malfunctioning Baymax waddled around.

" _Reboot reboot, data packet invalid, data packet invalid, reboot_." He twitched.  
"This isn't going very well'." Honey Lemon stated the obvious.

"Yeah, we've got to tap out." Hiro nodded. "Anyone want to tap in?"

"We do," Gogo skated in with Fred riding on her back. "Fred knows how to beat these dance punks."

The comic fan leapt off but turned back to her. "Actually I have no idea."  
"WHAT?!" She exclaimed. "You said you got the answers from the comic book!"  
"Yeah to explain Hiro's secret identity situation." Fred pointed out. "Was I not obvious?" An electric blast from High Voltage knocked him onto Gogo and landed them right by the others.

"This is a disaster." Gogo deadpanned.  
"Tell me about it." Fred chimed in.

"So Issue 188 didn't tell you anything on how to beat them?"  
He shook his head. "No. Overall 188 was a letdown, not even that good of a story. Maybe Richardson did me a favor all those years ago when he cut the power to my house,"

"Cut the power…" The lights went on in the engineer's head. "Duh." _It was so obvious, why didn't I think of it before?!_

"Honey Lemon." She turned to the Chemist major. "Insulate me."  
"Gogo you're a genius!" Honey Lemon produced two rubber chem balls and insulated Gogo's disks, then handed her another two. Now prepared, Gogo skated towards High Voltage while Hiro crawled over to fix Baymax.

_High Voltage!_

Both dancers just kept dancing, Juniper spun and fired electrical blasts at Gogo. But she jumped in the air, throwing her disks at the two dancers that were able to hit thanks to the insulation. Then Gogo grabbed their energy orb and covered it in rubber. She smirked, dropping it to the ground.

Juniper attempted to fire a blast at her but nothing came out of the gauntlets. "Uh." Her eyes widened with horror.

"Use a catchphrase!" Fred shouted. "Say a dumb line like it's a joke even though it's not really a joke!"  
Gogo faced the dancers with her disks. "Last dance freaks!"

"Ha-ha-hah! Good one!"

Juniper backed away from Gogo like a frightened deer. Barb grabbed her hand. "Escape dance Juniper! 2 5 7 8!" And they started running.

"Not so fast!" Honey Lemon threw a chem ball at them, which hit Barb and trapped her in rubbery goop.

"Juniper!" Barb called to her daughter for help.

But she hesitated, a flash of fear flickering on her face for barely a moment. "Sorry Mama! I'm going solo!" She started backflipping away. Barb let out an offended gasp. "You can't stop the art of dance-"  
The art of dance was stopped by Baymax's wing hitting Juniper in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

" _My systems have been restored, is anyone hurt?_ " Hiro smirked beside him as Honey Lemon tossed a chem ball at Juniper before she could get back up, the girl struggled to break free of the rubbery goop.

"You're grounded." Barb glared at her. Wasabi grabbed her goopy prison and dragged the two captured dancers out of earshot.

" _Have I missed anything significant?_ " Baymax asked them.

"We're all good Baymax." Hiro reported. "Just some pretty quick thinking from Gogo."  
"Big ups to Fred for inspiration." Gogo hummed. "even if it was unintentional."  
"That's what I do!" Fred smugly boasted.

Hiro walked up to him. "So Fred, about the secret identity thing. What have you got?"  
"Ah yes." He grinned. "Captain Fancy's alter-ego Lash Luper may _look_ like Captain Fancy in a sweater vest, but nobody notices. Not even ace reporter Rita Rampart!"  
"And that's supposed to explain why Karmi can't see me as "Hero" Hiro?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yep, it's a superhero thing. People see what they-"

* * *

"Want to see." Hiro took the words to heart as he was reporting his assignment to Granville, with the biotech major cautiously eyeing him. "Take Lash Luper for example."  
"Who?" Granville raised an eyebrow.  
He nervously chuckled. "Uhh, not important. When people look at me, what do they see? A Robotics major? A teen genius? Or maybe just a guy trying to fit in." He then turned to Karmi. "Because that's what Karmi saw, and I thank her for that. end of journal!"  
"Karmi?"  
"I uh..." Karmi stammered. "Don't know what to say.."

"Cause you're modest that way." Hiro nudged her on the shoulder then turned back to the dean. "Professor, Karmi was great this week. I learned a lot." He wasn't lying either, he did learn a lot of things by spending time with the Biotech major.

"I'm happy to hear it, dismissed." Granville smiled. Karmi walked straight out of the office stunned, but he stuck around for a bit.

"So… all this wasn't actually about me, was it?" Hiro smirked.

Granville glanced at him then back to her desk. "We are through here Mr. Hamada."  
"It was actually about Karmi, amiright?"

"I said… we are through."

Hiro took the hint and walked out smugly. Granville watched with a fond smile.

"You could have sold me out in there." He turned to Karmi. "But you didn't, you got it 'bad' for me, don't you?"  
"I do not have i-t-" Hiro groaned in frustration. "It's that Granville is right, we have a lot in common. The age thing, the genius thing." Karmi frowned, she knew he was right but-

" _The rush of hormones coursing through your pubescent bodies._ ," Baymax spoke up behind them, his screen flashing a picture. " _Pimples will start to appear on your face and back-_ "  
"Thanks for making it awkward Baymax." Hiro shoved him away.  
" _You are welcome._ "

"Look I'm really sorry for accusing you the other day, but maybe we could be friends." Hiro told her. Karmi however looked uninterested at the suggestion, her expression neutral until her phone chimed.  
"Shh! Big Hero 6 news alert!" She nudged him away.

" _High Voltage's rhythmic reign of terror became a reign of error when the mother-daughter duo ran into Big Hero 6-_ " And paused the screen and zoomed in on a picture of his "Hero Hiro" face.

She sighed dreamily. "I wish you were here."  
"Seriously?" Hiro raised an eyebrow and left Karmi to her fangirling. _I'm just going to let Ari deal with her._ He could live without her friendship.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Looks like High Voltage felt the "thunder!"

Fredilicous24: HA XD  
Gogo: That was bad and you should feel bad

Wasabi: I thought it was funny

Hiro Hamada: Hey Ari does that mean you don't have a crush anymore?

TheLittleMermaid: YOU CAN'T STOP ME HIRO

Honey Lemon: Don't do anything you'll regret Ari!  
TheLittleMermaid: I won't! It's just a harmless crush! Nothing could go wrong!

* * *

" _Big Hero 6 'shocked' High Voltage, by insulating them in a maximum security prison._ " Bluff Dunder's news report showed pictures of the two dancer's mugshots on screen. " _Yet another one of-_ "  
The man in the dark paused the news report. He flipped through the images of Big Hero 6, stopping at the one with Hiro on top of Baymax shouting an order.

He stared at the image, the left side of his face glowed a bright violet hue in the dark…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Issue 188 that's a wrap! I enjoyed how I did in this episode, very flashy XD
> 
> I've got some plans for Ari's little crush, but who knows how the dice will roll? Well I do, but you guys won't know : )
> 
> Fun fact: least favorite part while writing this chapter was writing Richardson freaking Mole... because! 
> 
> Tune in next week for Big Roommates 2!


	8. Chapter 7: (Big Roommates 2) The Fern Neighborhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honey Lemon moves into Gogo's neighborhood. Later on the two bring Ari on a dinner with the Fern kids and their parents

_All she could see was a beach, the sandy shore was warm under her bare feet. Ari smelled the salt from the sea in the wind, feeling it whip around her hair. The sea was a dark blue, it stretched as far as the eye could see. There was someone next to her, their face was blurred, the only feature she could point out was their fluffy brown hair, a much lighter shade than hers. She couldn't remember who they were, but they felt so...familiar to her, was this her kin?_

" _Do you enjoy the beach?" they spoke in a distorted voice, "Can you sense the water?"  
What a strange question! But Ari nodded for some reason. She felt..something, a rush of energy of some sorts that seemed alive._

_A roaring sound of waves made Ari turn her head around, she saw a giant tsunami headed straight for her! She tried to run but her feet were frozen to the ground, she should be running and fearing for her life but for some reason she wasn't! Why was she standing there?! Ari raised a hand at at the wave and-_

"AAAAH!" Ari yelped, leaping into the air. She fell off the bed, taking a few breaths to calm down as she remembered her surroundings.

"That's the last time I take a nap after eating Yaki Taco.." she muttered, trying to put the thought of the weird dream out of her head. She decided to go downstairs to help Cass run the cafe. It was the least she could do since Cass and Hiro were letting her stay here. However a part of Ari felt there was something more she could do, to repay the kindness shown to her. She brushed her thoughts and prepared for another day in the Lucky Cat Cafe.

* * *

Fern and Nerds group chat:  
Sara Ferns: OMG HL YOU'RE MOVING IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD?!

Honey Lemon: Well I'm moving to Gogo's place but yes!  
TheLittleMermaid: What?!

Wasabi: long story, but we're helping HL move her things from her dorm to Gogo's apartment

TheLittleMermaid: Oh cool! Wish I could help but I'm busy helping Ms. Cass run the cafe

Hiro Hamada: You can just call her Aunt Cass Ari..

TheLittleMermaid: No! She's your aunt and that would be weird!  
Fredilicous24: Literally all of us call her Aunt Cass

* * *

"Boy, you weren't kidding about this neighborhood," Wasabi exclaimed, he was backing the truck full of Honey Lemon's belongings to Gogo's apartment. "This place is crawling with jaywalkers!"

"You get used to it," Gogo lifts up the back door of the truck, Hiro grabs one of the boxes.  
"Any sign of Honey Lemon?" he looked around, not seeing her anywhere.

"Oh yeah, she's already here," Gogo points to across the street where Honey Lemon is chatting with a rather intimidating man, she also has her chem purse with her.

"I think you're gonna love it!" Honey Lemon had a big smile on her face, "What do you think?"

The man says nothing, but gives a nod.

"Yay!" Honey Lemon makes a couple of chem balls, then hands the purse to the man. "You might want to stand back." She throws the chem balls at the man's motorcycle, coloring it a bright shade of pink with glitter. Gogo skates over and grabs the purse from the man.

"And you might want to be careful with your stuff around here!" Gogo tells her.

"I am," Honey Lemon replies, "I asked uh…" she turns to the man, "What's your name?"  
"Felony Carl," the man answers.

"I asked Felony Carl to watch it," she turns back to Felony Carl, "You might just want to go by Carl."

"Yeah, talk to my mom" Felony Carl gets on his now pink motorcycle, "Love the glitter, it showcases how comfortable I am with my masculinity," he then drove away.

"Bye Felony Carl!" Honey Lemon waved as he drove, he waved back.

Gogo just sighed, "Just be careful with your stuff, c'mon let's move your stuff in."

* * *

Meanwhile at the Lucky Cat Cafe, Cass was noticing how distracted Ari was. She had to get her attention a few times, the girl seemed to have her head in the clouds.

"Hey Ari? Do you need a break?" Cass asked her, the girl noticed she was talking to her and shook her head.

"No! I'm fine," Ari replied, "Just...thinking."  
"I am very thankful for you letting me stay here, but even though I help out in the cafe I feel like there's something else I could do." she explained, "I feel like I should get a job..not that I don't like working here! But I feel like a freeloader, shouldn't I pay rent?"  
"Oh Ari, you don't have to pay rent," Cass gave her a warm smile, "You helping me out in the cafe and being there for my nephew is payment enough."  
"You're right," Ari sighs. "I guess I'm still hard on myself."  
"Remember that you're still a kid Ari." Cass gives her a pat on the head, "Have some fun! Don't spend all day in the cafe,"

"I won't," Ari notices that a customer needs a refill on the drink, they both end the conversation and get back to work.

"Thank you," the customer tells her as she refills her glass of milk. Ari doesn't respond at first, she's too busy gawking at the customer's fluffy brown hair. That was short and reached her neck instead of her shoulders, she kept staring with wide eyes.

"Pardon me but are you alright?" The customer waves her hand in front of Ari's face, "You look a bit startled there."

"Huh," Ari shakes her head, putting the weird coincidence out of her mind, "Sorry! I guess I'm a bit tired."

"Quite alright, happens to the best of us." the customer takes a sip of her milk, "Hey can I get a chocolate chip muffin with this?"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Why am I not allowed to visit HL and Gogo's apartment yet?

Gogo: It's a bad neighborhood!

Honey Lemon: I'm still getting used to living in the apartment, like how you were adjusting to living in the cafe

TheLittleMermaid: Isn't it near the Fern house? I've taken a walk around that neighborhood before and was fine

Hiro Hamada: Ariel why were you in that neighborhood!  
TheLittleMermaid: Walking! Sara can confirm!  
Sara Ferns: Can confirm

Wasabi: It sounds fine then, not like there is a master villain in the neighborhood right now.

Sara Ferns: Don't jinx it :T

* * *

Around the neighborhood, a thief was walking around. He had strut in his step, a smug look on his face as he was walking. The man had tan skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and was wearing a green jacket and black pants. As he walks past a shop he calls to a woman that's exiting the shop.

"Looking good Judy! When are you going to take me out for coffee?" He teases her, the woman huffs and starts walking away from him.

"Ha! Classic Judy!" He's unaffected, "Call me!" The next person he walks past is Felony Carl, who's reading the newspaper.  
"What's up Dibs?" Felony Carl asks him.

"Just going to work, Felony Carl." Dibs answers, putting a ski mask over his head.

"You know you're a rotten thief, right?" Felony Carl raises an eyebrow.  
"Pretty sure you mean awesome thief?" Dibs is unaffected by the comment, he never was as it's just the usual banter between him and Carl.

"It's not meant as a personal attack, just simply an observation," he replies, going back to reading his newspaper.

"Jealousy?" Dibs teases, "Not a good look Felony Carl." he notices that his bike had gotten a new paint job, it looked nice. "The glitter's cute, though." and he walks away.

Dibs continues to walk and notices an old woman sleeping on the bus bench, he notices the purse that's under her arm and grins. He tiptoes over, stopping as the slightest sound wakes the woman from her slumber. When he got close enough, Dibs reaches to grab the purse strap but the woman wakes up. She looks around then goes back to sleep, not noticing Dibs posing as the poster behind her. He's able to grab the purse but as he runs way, Dibs runs into the bus pole and drops the purse. The bus arrives and the woman grabs her purse, she tosses him a few coins and gets on the bus. Dibs huffs, and collects the pitiful amount of change he was able to obtain.

"Give it up Dibs!" Felony Carl drives past him, but he wouldn't quit. Dibs then notices some of the unpacked boxes from the new neighbor. On one of them was an orange purse with a heart on it.

Dibs notices the purse, and gives a smirk.

* * *

"I'm so excited to meet Sara's aunt and uncle!"  
"You'd like them Ari, they're good folk." Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Ari were walking down the neighborhood. After moving in to Gogo's apartment, Sara and her siblings had visited to invite them for dinner.  
"You can even bring Ari, she hasn't met my aunt or uncle yet." Sara told them, so they brought the girl as their plus one guest (with permission from Cass and Hiro).

"Hey Gogo, have you met Sara's aunt and uncle?" Ari asked, she was nervous to meet them and wanted to make a good first impression.

"Yep," Gogo pops her bubblegum, "They're nice folk, but a bit crazy." The three of them stop at a house down the hill. It looked small, the roof was painted red. The walls of the house were made of spruce wood and stone, the grass outside had a few flower patches growing. It looked like a typical japanese house.  
"Looks nice," Ari points out, she's taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"Yeah! It's super cute on the inside as well!" Honey Lemon nods, she runs to the door and rang the doorbell.

It's neither of the Fern kids who answer the door, but an older woman that Ari guesses must be Sara's aunt Sally.

"Hello Honey Lemon," Sally greets her, "And hello to you as well Gogo, I see you brought the Ari my kids have been talking about." She had bright sky blue hair that was in a ponytail down to her shoulders, her eyes were a golden shade of amber. Her dress was a teal green color that went down to her knees, she wore purple flip-flops. When Sally waved, Ari saw that her right hand is missing the pinky finger, a mangled scar the only hint there was one there.

"It's uh..nice to meet you ma'am," Ari squeaks out a greeting.

Sally chuckles, "None of the ma'am stuff. Come in, you all must be freezing."

They enter the house, and it was true that the house was "cute" on the inside as well. As Sally leads them to the dining room, Ari stares at the pictures on the wall. She sees photos of the Fern kids in their younger years, as well as a few she couldn't recognize.

"Hey, thanks for coming over." Mikan waves as they enter the dining room, "And welcome to the neighborhood Honey Lemon, it's nice to have another friendly face."  
"I'm happy to be here!" Honey Lemon beams, "Thanks for inviting us!"

They take their seats, Ari sat between David and Gogo.

"Dad's making pasta tonight," David tells them, "You'll like it Ari, it's the good stuff."  
"Really?" Ari's had pasta that Cass made, she didn't think it would beat hers.  
"Mhmm," David nods, a middle-aged man walks into the room, carrying a few plates of pasta. The man looked similar to David, but only by pure coincidence, he had short black hair and the same shade of brown eyes as Sara. He wore a navy blue polo shirt and dark grey sweatpants with black boots. Ari notices that there are two scars on his forehead that reach down to his eyebrow, she wonders where he could've gotten such a scar.

"Speak of the devil," Gogo quips, "Ari, this is Sara's uncle Steven."  
"The best uncle ever!" Sara exclaims, Mikan nudges her on the shoulder for the loud volume.

"I try to be a good parent, nice to meet you Ari." Steven introduces himself to her.  
"Nice to meet you too," Ari takes a whiff of the pasta, "Mmmm, I might believe you that it's better than Cass's cooking Gogo,"

"Told you,"

At first dinner is peaceful for a few minutes, there's a small conversation between Honey Lemon and Sara about her moving in. Ari is enjoying the pasta as they do, it did taste better than Cass's cooking, no offense to her of course. However, when noticing Mikan having a chat with Gogo it made her think.  
"Hey Mikan, can I ask a question?" she asks her in a break between their conversation.  
"Sure," Mikan shrugs.  
"Why do folks say you're different than your siblings?"

There's a bit of silence, as everyone glances at Ari's words then glance back to their meals. Mikan isn't offended by the question, however, her expression turns neutral.  
"Ah, David mentioned you may ask me," she takes a sip of her water, "How much do you know?"  
"Only that you live with you dad and that you're different than David and Sara in a way," Ari answers, her throat feeling dry. Why was she feeling afraid? But then she looks up and understands why.

Mikan's eyes had a strange gleam in then, it made Ari feel like prey around a predator. "You are correct, I do live with my father. However, he's quite the busy man, so Sally and Steven welcomed me as one of their own. David and Sara are siblings to me, but I'm different because I wasn't fully adopted into the family yet I call myself a Ferns. Does this answer your curiosity?" she spoke in a cold, emotionless tone. Ari felt her nerves jolt at each word. She nodded, not wanting Mikan's reaction to turn negative.

"Well since that's done, I'm getting a second plate!" The emotion returns in Mikan's voice, she gets up and runs to the kitchen to grab a second filling of pasta. Ari takes a sigh of relief when she leaves.

"I don't blame you," David whispers to her, "Mika can be a bit scary when she gets like that."

Ari spent the rest of the meal conversing with David. She learned a little about him, like his pet snake Snickers and his piano playing hobby. David in return learned about her fascination with Big Hero 6, they were intriguing superheroes. When dinner was done, Gogo and Honey Lemon went back to their apartment. But Ari stuck around awhile to help with the dishes, the Fern family told her she didn't have to but Ari insisted. It was the least she could do for them inviting them to her house and for Mikan sharing that tidbit of personal information with her. She was scrubbing the dishes while Steven Ferns dried them next to her.

"I'll admit, it's nice to have a willing hand in the kitchen for one," Steven chuckles, "The kids always play rock-paper-scissors with each other just to get out of it, my poor niece always gets the short end of the stick on that one."

"Yikes," Ari suppresses a giggle.

"By the way, Mikan told me that you're friends with her classmate Karmi, is that true?" Steven asked her all of a sudden, she stops washing the dishes to answer.  
"Yeah, we mostly talk about how cool Big Hero 6 is." She answers, "I wish her and Hiro would get along though, they only tolerate each other when I'm around but the second I go grab something they're at each other's throats."

Steven lets out a deep chuckle at that, a smile forms on his face. "That's children for you, I remember when the kids would start arguments over the silliest of things." His eyes grow foggy at the memory, "I'm glad despite their bickering they're together even during the darkest days."  
Ari raises an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Well, there's a reason Sara and David grew up in this house, neither of them were good." Steven frowns, "You might find out the truth for David one day, but Sara doesn't mind if I tell you hers."  
"Her mother..my older sister was not a good parent, or family. She's been doing a lot better since we took her in, those dark days are scars of the past now."

Ari frowns, her mind flashing back to the faded cuts she sees on Sara's arm. Were those caused by her dark days? She'd never ask her in person, it's none of her business but she did care for her friend.

"Well I'll try to a good friend to all your kids," Ari vows, "They might be goofy, but they're great company."

Steven smiles, but the buzzing from his phone ends their conversation as he goes to answer it. Ari can't hear what it's about, but it made Steven annoyed.

"Uhg, my boss wants me to accompany him for something business related," Steven huffs, "He gives a good pay, but it's quite draining." He goes to grab his coat, "You should get home Ari, it's starting to get dark and I'm sure Cass would want you home before night."

"I will!" Ari nods, "Wait how do you know I'm living in the Lucky Cat Cafe?"  
"Honey Lemon mentioned it at dinner, do you not remember?"  
"Oh…." she facepalmed.

* * *

Ferns and Nerd Group Chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Home safe!  
Honey Lemon: Yay!  
Fredilicous24: How was it meeting Sally and Steven?

TheLittleMermaid: Sally was a bit scary but she was nice! And Steven's a good uncle! The Fern kids are lucky to have him in their lives!  
Sara Ferns: Yes! Yes he is!  
Sara Ferns: "Very lucky" -David

Mikan Ferns: A true gentleman, shame stupid Krei had to cut family time! : (

TheLittleMermaid: Who's Krei?

Hiro Hamada: Tell you later, though I wonder what business he had..

* * *

It was dark, the lack of sunlight made the abandoned warehouse look ominous at night. The only person who dared enter it was Dibs, who was patting himself on the back for his latest steal.

"They all said Dibs! You don't have the skills, the brains, or the hand-eye coordination to make it as a thief!" he was talking to a rat that had scurried next to him, he didn't mind the rodent's presence. Dibs held the stolen purse he got from the new neighbor and held it up, "Well they're about to look pretty stupid!"

However..he didn't know how to open the purse, it had no latch or zippers to open. In frustration he started slamming the purse on the nearby table. The rat looks at him with a frightened stare. "Breathe in...and breathe out…" Dibs takes a few calming breaths, then goes back to hitting the purse on the table like a madman. The rat flinched and scurried away from the angry thief.

The warehouse door opened behind him, "So what are we doing here?" he hears a female voice. Dibs panics, glancing around for a place to hide. He chooses to hide in one of the large boxes near the table, his rat acquaintance hiding with him.

"You remember that neurotransmitter that Hiro Hamada invented to control his microbots?" It was Alistair Krei, the CEO of Krei Tech. He had handsome blonde hair, sky blue eyes and wore a dark blue business suit. He was accompanied by his assistant Judy, a women with short black hair, brown eyes, and glasses. He also brought one of his mechanics Steven with him, to give an examination on what he was about to show, and he was good at scaring unwanted company with his intimidating frame.

"Hmm, it was a genius invention," Judy hums, "Too bad it was lost forever at the showcase fire."  
"I think the worst loss was the loss of one of the students," Steven frowns, remembering the death that happened at that fire.

"Yes that was terrible," Krei quips, "But was the invention lost forever?" he grinned. "I was able to study it from our security footage and it inspired me to make this!" He swipes the switch on the table, causing it to flip over and reveal an invention.

"You made this?" Judy raises an eyebrow at Krei, it looked just like the neurotransmitter Hiro Hamada built but it had green coloring.

"Not personally, I hired a team." Krei replies, wearing the invention on his head and pointing to the lights. "You wear this, you can control anything linked to it with your mind."  
"So you ripped off Hiro's invention," Steven frowns, "You brought me with you for this? It looks to be functioning fine but…"  
"No no, It's not a ripoff." Krei shakes his head, "It's a better version."

"Better how?" Judy questions.

"Legally different enough that I can't be sued," Krei grabs a pair of green goggles on the table and places it on the device, making it look different from Hiro's invention.

"That is better," his assistant admits.  
"Okay so the colors and green googles you added do make it different enough I'll admit," Steven crosses his arms.

"Right now we only have this prototype but eventually, this thing will be worth billions!"  
Dibs's eyes light up with glee from behind the box, "Billions!" he whispers. Staring at his rat friend he gives a quiet yelp in surprise, the rat scurries out of the box and runs past Judy.

"Rats?" She says as the rat scurries away.

"Could be worse," Steven tells her, "It could always be worse Judy."

"Well it's the drawback of secret labs in abandoned warehouses," Krei places the neurotransmitter back on the table and flips the switch to hide it and leaves.

"We don't get paid enough for this do we Judy?" Steven whispers to his coworker as they follow their boss out of the warehouse, she doesn't give a verbal response but she nods.

As they leave, Dibs comes out of his hiding spot and crawls over to the table.

"Billions. Who's a rotten thief now Felony Carl?!" Dibs flips the switch and grabs the neurotransmitter, he would be rich! Rich! He places the invention on it head, "Ooh." It didn't look different from regular vision but it looked nice. On accident he drops the stolen purse, when he goes to pick it up he hits the table button with his head. He speeds away from the table before it hits him but it hits the purse, as he goes to grab the purse he struggles. But the purse breaks, spilling all of its chemical contents onto Dibs in sticky purple globs.

Dibs yowls, the globby goop covering his entire head, he tries to pull it off but notices it starting to grow in size and has a feeling of dread in his gut.

"I'm not liking where this is going at all-"  
The globby goop consumes Dibs, eating his muscle and bone as he screams in pain. It continues until the purple globs had eaten his entire body, leaving only a moving mass controlled by the neurotransmitter.

He lets out a yell as it's all finished, his form a gelatinous moving glob, the green goggles of the neurotransmitter serving as his eyes.

He trips, with his globby limbs stretching in multiple directions and sticking to the wall.

"Darn it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg they were roommates
> 
> Anyways introducing Steven and Sally Ferns! The Fern kids parents! Such wholesome parental figures  
> Ari's making a bit of a minor appearance this episode, she can't be involved in the episode plot all the time amiright? :D


	9. Chapter 8: (Big Roommates 2) Globby Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A monster appears in San Fransokyo! Honey Lemon falls into a gloomy phase

It was another day at the Lucky Cat Cafe. Hiro and the rest of his friends (except Fred), were having breakfast.  
"Has anyone seen my chem purse?" Honey Lemon asks the group, she kept her voice low as Ari was nearby cleaning the tables. "I haven't seen it since moving in with Gogo."  
"I told to be careful with your stuff," Gogo rubs her eyes, she didn't get any sleep all night because of Honey Lemon's snoring. It was hard for her to stay awake.

"I was, I put it on a box." she explains to her.

"The purse box?" Wasabi takes a sip from his peppermint tea.

"Yeah!" Honey Lemon nods.

"Well if you just left it on a box it was probably stolen." Gogo frowns, however she did warn her.

"That's just the sleep deprivation talking, deep down post people are good." Honey Lemon shrugs it off, as she does Ari comes over.  
"You lost something Honey Lemon?" Ari raises an eyebrow, "I can keep an eye out if you'd like."  
"Er, thanks Ari but I think I just misplaced it somewhere," Honey Lemon tells her, she didn't want the girl to see her chem purse. Ari might conclude that she was a member of Big Hero 6 then!

"Alrighty, hope you find it soon." She goes to clean the table next to them.  
Meanwhile, Gogo is visibly struggling to stay awake, even Baymax takes notice. " _Sleep is important for cognitive function. Between seven and nine hours is optimal._ "

"Yeah Hiro," Ari stares at the teen genius, "Sleep is important for some of us who don't go to college."

"Sorry," he just nods, and makes a mental note to be quieter when he's working in his room.

" _I will play something to help you rest._ " Baymax tells Gogo, the latter just shakes her head.

"That's nonsense Baymax," she argues as Baymax starts playing something calming to get Gogo to sleep. "I'm doing just fine.." the song works and Gogo falls asleep.

"Hey uh, Aunt Cass?" Hiro turns to his aunt, "Do you have a blanket?"  
"You want a pillow with that blanket?" Aunt Cass asks him.

"We're good!" Ari answers as Baymax uses his vinyl arm as a pillow for Gogo.

"One blanket hold the pillow coming up." Aunt Cass walks away. Ari is about to clean another table but she bumps into Fred, who is vibrating with excitement.

"Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys!" He keeps repeating as he runs around their table, Ari raises an eyebrow at his behavior.  
"Did you drink coffee or something?" She had never seen him this excited in the morning before.

"Calm down Fred, what are you trying to tell us?" Wasabi asks him, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
"There's a monster in San Fransokyo!" Fred pulls out his phone to show the news, Ari squints and sees a purple blurred picture as well as Bluff Dunder giving his usual report.

"Breaking news, Report of what is described as a 'monster' is loose in San Fransokyo." Bluff Dunder reports, "Please note that we have no hard evidence to support this claim. But I repeat, a monster is loose, in San Fransokyo!" He grabs the camera and leans in to deliver that last line.

"Well, I'm not going out anytime soon." Ari walks away from the door and starts cleaning a table in the far right corner.

"Fred, there's no such thing as monsters." Hiro shakes his head, it was probably just a clickbait report and he fell for it.

"That's what all the normals say," Fred frowns, then leans in, "Right before being attacked by a monster!" He steps back and glances at the windows, then huffs.  
"Are you disappointed we weren't just attacked by a monster?" Wasabi narrows his eyes.  
"Of course!" Fred exclaims, "Defeating a monster is a glaring omission on our superhero resume."  
"Shhhhh" everyone raises a finger to their lips, then points to Ari who is cleaning tables in the corner of the cafe.

"Sorry," Fred whispers.

"Monster attacks are kind of cliche in terms of superhero stuff isn't it?" Wasabi raises an eyebrow.  
"That and they're not real," Hiro quips.

"Hiro's right Fred," Honey Lemon agrees with him, "Monsters aren't really a thing..you know..a real thing."

"How do you know?! Because that's what your fancy so called, 'science' books say?" Fred makes finger quotes at the word science.

"Yes." They all reply, giving him deadpan looks.

"Well let me tell you about comic books! Which are full of monsters!" Fred exclaims, bringing his face to Wasabi's.  
"Are you going to keep badgering us until we check it out?" Hiro raises an eyebrow, as someone who had dealt with Fred's persistence in the past he knew he wasn't going to give up.  
"Yes," Fred turns to him.

"Alright, let's go look." Him and Fred walk out of the cafe to go look for the mysterious "monster", as Honey Lemon and Wasabi follow after the former turns to Baymax.  
"Baymax, would you mind?" Honey Lemon gestures to the still-sleeping Gogo resting on his arm.

" _I am on it._ " Baymax replies, he scoops up Gogo from the chair, holding her in a little ball in his arms. The robot starts to wade over, but he bumps into a table and knocks over a cup of coffee. Baymax blinks, and stares at the Wasabi, who stares back at the robot. Baymax looks over to Gogo, then looks behind him to see spilled coffee on the table he bumped into.

"Hmm," Wasabi just continues to stare at the robot.

"I'll clean that up," Ari brings a washcloth to the table and begins to clean the spill, "Good luck on your monster hunt!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: YO WHY ARE PEOPLE SAYING A MONSTER IS IN SAN FRANSOKYO LIKE WTH

Wasabi: Somehow that reaction is the last thing I'd expect from you, aren't you a monster fan as much as Fred?

Mikan Ferns: Yeah! But what if it's a dangerous monster!  
Sara Ferns: Big Hero 6 can handle it! Duh!  
TheLittleMermaid: I'm not going out for awhile lol, I don't want to be monster food ;-;

Fredilicous24: Oh don't worry Ari! You're not a damsel in distress so you're good!  
TheLittleMermaid: A what

Wasabi: Fred why -_-

* * *

Hiro and Fred had been looking for monster clues for awhile. They were rounding a corner with Fred leading the way.  
"Okay, this is where people first saw the monster." Fred explains, "There should be a clue here."  
"I don't see any buildings knocked over or giant footprints," Hiro looked around for any signs of a monster, he didn't see anything damage to the block.

"Well maybe this type of monster doesn't have feet!" Fred argues, bringing his foot up but it unbalanced him and he falls over. But he gets back up quick, "Open your mind Hiro."

"Well if there was a monster here there would have been some evidence for proof!" Hiro points out, he starts to walk away but he feels something squishy under his foot. He looks down and his eyes widen.  
"Okay you can quit gloating dude, nobody likes a sore winner." Fred pouts as Hiro stares at what he stepped on.

"Uh Fred? What's that?" Hiro points to a sticky purple glob that's stuck under his foot. He lifts his foot to try and shake it off but it's stuck.  
"Hmm, lemme touch it." Fred grabs a sample with his index finger, he sniffs it up his nose and plucks it out. Hiro flinches in disgust as he does that.  
"That my friend is one hundred percent grade A monster goo!" Fred shoves the goo in Hiro's face, he cringes and wipes it off his face. Grossed beyond belief at his friend, who is singing in praise of the discovery.  
"Who's the cool guy who's always right? Who's real awesome and out of sight? Who's biggest fear is a spider bite?" Fred dances as he sings, "It's Fred it's Fred! It's Fred it's Fred!" Hiro looks at him just _done_ with today. Distant screaming brings their attention, Hiro starts running towards the source of the sound.  
"It's Fred it's Fred!" Fred continues to sing as he follows Hiro towards the screaming.

Meanwhile, back at Gogo's apartment. Honey Lemon and Wasabi are searching for the chem-purse, Baymax is with them as he holds the sleeping Gogo. Gogo then starts to wake up, and is greeted with the sight of Baymax.

" _Hello,_ " Baymax blinks, Gogo stares back and gets out of the robot's hold and notices Wasabi searching through the purse box.  
"Oh come on!" he was panicking as he searched, "Where is it where is it?!"

"It clearly isn't here." Gogo tells him.  
"But it has to be! The box is labeled 'purses'!" Wasabi points to the box, "If the purse isn't in the 'purse' box, then nothing in my world makes sense!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll turn up." Honey Lemon comforts him as he's in distress, "We just have to keep looking."

"Well, unless like I've said for the millionth time, it was stolen by someone." Gogo argues, it was the only logical explanation they haven't found the purse yet.

"You know, your negativity isn't helping much." Honey Lemon tells her, Wasabi realizes an argument is about to brew so he steps back away from them.  
"Okay I'll be positive," Gogo walks up to her, "Positive you're not going to get your purse back."

Honey Lemon gives a sharp gasp in offense.  
" _Conflict resolution through a third party is often effective,_ " Baymax states, Wasabi agrees, though the robot is better suited in a situation like this.

"It's third-party time," Wasabi points to the argument.

"And who has a box full of butterflies?" Gogo argues.  
"They were caterpillars when I packed them," Honey Lemon lifts up a butterfly from her shoulder, the insect perched on her index finger.

Baymax walks up between them and attempts to break up the argument, " _Respect and un-_ "

"Exactly Baymax," Gogo cuts him off, "It's hard to respect someone who's always acting so happy and positive about everything all the time!" Honey Lemon gapes at her as she says that.

" _And understand are_ -"

"Well," Honey Lemon is the one who cuts off Baymax this time. "I don't understand why you always act so moody and serious and always chewing gum!" Gogo pops her bubblegum in anger as she speaks.  
" _Perhaps-_ "  
"I should find somewhere else to live!" Honey Lemon glares.  
"Fine, if that's what you want." Both girls huff and walk away from each other.

" _That was not effective,_ " Baymax blinks, people screaming outside brings their attention. Wasabi is staring out of the window in horror, Honey Lemon and Gogo head to the window to see what's going on. They both have their mouths open at all the screaming outside.  
"I think we found Fred's monster," Wasabi notes, as cars crash outside.

"Oh there's Sara and David out there," Honey Lemon points to two familiar shapes outside, "I hope they're okay…"

* * *

The two kids were in shock as a purple blob was walking down the street.  
"Is it that bad Sara?" David asks his sister, "Like is it 'omg we're gonna die run!' kind of bad?"  
"No it just looks weird," Sara replies, "I feel like we're in a superhero movie.." Their reactions were milder than everyone else's, they just ran and screamed at the monster.  
"What is that thing!?"  
"He's hideous?!"

"Gross!" people cried out in disgust and horror. The glob monster just kept retorting at the insults.  
"Yeah like you all look amazing!" the glob monster yelled, David gasps as the voice is familiar to him.  
"Doesn't the monster sound like Dibs? The guy who hangs around Felony Carl all the time?" David questioned, "What if the monster is Dibs?"  
"What?" Sara shakes her head in disbelief, "No way!" the monster trips on the ground, his gelatinous body bubbles as it reforms into the humanoid shape again.  
"Well it wouldn't be the first time it happened in this neighborhood." David points out.

"You're right," Sara nods, "Let's just go to Joe's Diner with Mika, I'm getting deaf from all the screaming."  
"Yeah let's get outta here."

As they leave, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Wasabi, and Baymax arrive on the scene in their superhero armor.

The glob monster gets up from the street and stares at them, "What?"

"Baymax can you scan it?" Wasabi asks the robot.  
"It!?" the monster was offended by the comment, I'm still a person in here! I think!..."

Baymax activates his scanner and scans the monster, " _Scan complete."_ he states as the monster is trying to lift his sticky foot from the road.  
" _The monster-_ "  
"Hey!" he looks at the robot in offense.  
" _Consist of a mix of human DNA and an unknown chemical compound, which is controlled by an electronic device._ " The neurotransmitter on the monster's forehead blinks as Baymax points it out.

" _It also contains fragments of Honey Lemon's purse,_ " and sure enough there were bits of the purse still stuck on the monster's body from when it broke.

"Oh no," Honey Lemon gasps, "Did my purse do this to you?"

The monster flicks a purse fragment off his body, "Purse?" he realizes that she's the owner of the purse he stole. "Purse, ha! Yeah I don't know anything about a purse." He starts to walk away but Gogo skids in front to block him.  
"You stole the purse, didn't you?" Gogo glares at him.  
"Oh I see, when something goes missing the first thing you do is blame the monster!" he exclaims, Gogo sees past the dramatic act.

"Oh yeah he stole it, I warned you and you should've listened." Gogo retorts, staring at Honey Lemon who is in shock.

Wasabi however has a different reaction, "Oh thank goodness it wasn't a labelling error after all!" he chuckles, then notices Honey Lemon's sad face. "I know this is hard for you but for a few minutes, I didn't know who I was anymore." He wasn't Wasabi if he wasn't organized.

"Looks like you guys have some issues you need to work out," the monster starts to leave, "So I'll just-"  
"You're not going anywhere thief," Gogo tells him.  
"Yes I am!" he stretches his arms and grabs Gogo, flinging her over and hitting Honey Lemon and Baymax, his goop sticking to both of them. Some of it lands on Wasabi and it freaks him out.  
"Ew! Get it off!" He exclaims, running in panic.

At that moment Hiro and Fred bounce in, with the latter carrying the former on his back for quicker transport. Everyone around panics and runs as the monster had attacked the superheroes.

"Ah-hah!" Fred points to the monster.  
"That, that is a monster," Hiro turns to his friend, "I stand corrected."

"Yes, yes you do!" Fred exclaims, "Everyone look at that disgusting globby monster!"

"He is globby isn't he," A citizen nods in agreement.

"Well it's settled then," Fred calls out to the monster, "Do you mind if we call you Globby!?"  
"Of course I mind!" the monster snaps back, he groans in frustration, "Could this day get any worse?" A bus then hits the monster, he screams as he's pulled away.

"You gotta watch where you're standing on the road Globby!" Fred yells out, Hiro just winces as that looked quite painful.  
"Ouch.." he then goes to check on Honey Lemon, and helps her get her hand unstuck from a glob, "Jeez what a mess," he stares at the globs on the ground.

"It's all my purse's fault!" Honey Lemon exclaims, tears forming in her eyes. "No, I-I should take responsibility, it's my fault..I should have listened to Gogo in the first place, she was right and I was wrong." Honey Lemon wraps her arms around herself to prevent the tears from falling.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry everyone, sorry, so, so sorry. Really really sorry,"

"Okay, enough." Baymax walks over with Gogo still stuck to him, she points to Honey Lemon, "Enough apologizing already!"

"You're right." Honey Lemon gives a small nod, "Sorry, er sorry, it's um..sorry.."

* * *

Back at Gogo's apartment, Wasabi is attempting to scrub the goop from his suit's chestplate.  
"Guys..bad news," he realizes, and scrubs harder, "I'm pretty sure this is not coming out!" while he's doing that Gogo is listening to a news report about the monster.

It's Bluff Dunder who's interviewing Felony Carl, "And how do you feel about the monster's name?" the reporter asks the man.

"Globby's short, it's accurate," Felony Carl replies, "I feel it's apt."

"Cool! I named the monster!" Fred exclaims, "This will be my legacy to the world!"  
"Really?" Gogo raises an eyebrow at him.

"Hey Honey Lemon?" Hiro turns to face the girl as he's making her a new chem-purse, "Your new chem-purse is almost ready for use."

Honey Lemon sighed in response, Gogo walks over to her.  
"Hey, that's good news isn't it?" Gogo asks her, "Now you'll be able to come up with something to stop Globby."  
"I'll give it a shot...I guess." she replies in a dull tone of voice, Gogo frowns at her lack of enthusiasm. She hated seeing Honey Lemon like this.

"Cheering people up isn't really my thing...but uh..Be happy Honey Lemon!" Gogo tries to cheer her, "Because even though you feel really terrible about the Globby thing, everything is actually great so feel better!"

Honey Lemon sighed, "You're right, cheering people up isn't your thing at all." As she gets up, Baymax is in front of her.

" _Honey Lemon, it is okay to be sad sometimes._ " Baymax pulls her in for a hug, " _There there._ "

"Crying is pointless," Honey Lemon retorts in a gloomy tone, "It's time to face the darkness of reality."

Gogo stares in wide eyes at what she just heard, she was starting to get creeped out by Honey Lemon's gloomy behavior, she was starting to wish for happy-go-lucky Honey Lemon back.

Honey Lemon swabs a sample of the goop and places it into a test tube, she adds a chemical mixture to the tube.

"I'll need to create a compound to break down Globby's viscoelastic properties," she notes.

"Hypothetically which is a science term, if somebody in this room didn't know what the meaning of this visco...visco..visco diddy-" Fred stammered, poking around Honey Lemon's workstation.

Honey Lemon sighs, "I'm going to make an 'unsticky' ball for Globby,"  
"I named the monster." Fred points out, she scoffs and grabs her beaker.

"Uhg! Not enough tripropylene, my beaker is half-empty."

"It's half-full!" Gogo exclaims, everyone in the room stared at her in surprise. "I can't believe I just said that.." but she couldn't believe Honey Lemon would use the term "half-empty" either. She was hopeful that her friend's cheerful persona would rise up again soon.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Mikan Ferns:

Mikan Ferns: So I'm sitting here at Joe's Diner with Sara and David…

Sara Ferns: We got pancakes!

Mikan Ferns: AND THEN GLOBBY WALKS IN

TheLittleMermaid: Omg

TheLittleMermaid: Wait where's Hiro and co.

Hiro Hamada: Busy, sorry!

TheLittleMermaid: It's fine..but omg are you guys fine

Sara Ferns: "Yeah but everyone else started panicking and running like zebras," -David

Mikan Ferns: I'm just eavesdropping on Carl and Globby..

Sara Ferns: "For the tenth time Globby is Dibs!" -David

TheLittleMermaid: Who's Dibs?

Sara Ferns: Local purse thief in our 'hood who I make it my mission to avoid

Mikan Ferns: He's a terrible thief you're not gonna lose your purse

Sara Ferns: HE SMELLS WEIRD

TheLittleMermaid Odd...Wait Carl?

Mikan Ferns: Him and Felony Carl are in a booth talking, Globby said something about someone knowing about an invention working

TheLittleMermaid: That's weird

* * *

What Globby was talking about was Krei Tech..Where the CEO Alistair Krei was, getting another statue of him made.  
"Could you speed this along?" Krei asks the sculptor, "I'm out of things to think about." He was in a thinking pose for the statue, the sculptor continued to build. All of a sudden the window breaks as Globby breaks in, grabs the statue and jumps out. Krei and the sculptor stare at the shattered window in shock, then stare at each other.

Globby returned, placing the statue back and grabbing Krei instead. Then he leaps out of the window once more, the sculptor gaping in shock.

Steven walks into the office at that moment, "Mr. Krei? I finished that machine like you want...ed.." He then notices his boss is nowhere to be found and a broken window.  
"What just happened?"

* * *

Back at Gogo's apartment, Hiro checks in Honey Lemon's progress.  
"Hey Honey Lemon, how's it going with the unsticky ball?" he asks her.  
"Uhg, who knows?" she's still in a somber mood, "the good news is that I haven't been able to ruin another person's life in the last half hour."

"That's pretty gloomy for good news Honey Lemon," Fred notes.

"Hey Baymax? Is there anything in your data banks that can help here?" Hiro asks his healthcare companion, if anyone could cheer Honey Lemon up it would be Baymax.  
" _Research has shown that a pleasant image can improve a negative mood. I will search for a pleasant image,_ " as he speaks, Honey Lemon's butterflies start to perch on top of the robot.

"I think you've already found it," Gogo tells him, "I'd say that's a sign." the butterflies around Baymax fit the textbook definition of a pleasant image if she'd say so.

"More like a coincidence." Honey Lemon brings the beaker down on the table and frowns.

" _Hello, I am Baymax._ " He speaks to the butterfly.

"But Honey Lemon," Gogo argues to the girl, "Don't you love adorable nonsense?"  
"I'm not into nonsense anymore." Honey Lemon tells her, Gogo frowns, about to reply but Wasabi speaks up.

"Ummm guys? I think we should watch this?" He points to a news report on the computer, Bluff Dunder is reporting at Krei Tech. He raises the volume as the rest of them come over to the computer.

"Our CEO, Alistair Krei, was abducted from his office through that window," Judy reports, pointing to the broken window behind her. "By the monster we've all agreed to call Globby,"

"Is there anything you'd like to say to your boss, if he's watching? Bluff Dunder asks her.  
"Mr. Krei if you're watching, we're keeping you in our thoughts, and also I'm going home early you approved it last week." Judy stares straight at the camera as she says this, Wasabi then turns off the news report.

" _Oh no._ " Baymax states.

Hiro sighs, "We've got to suit up and look for Globby."

* * *

"This is unacceptable, I'm rich! I'm connected!" Krei complains as Globby climbs up a skyscraper with him glued to his back, he then realizes how large the drop would be if he fell. "This is high, this is very high! Are you crazy!?"  
"Just tell me how your fancy headband thing works and I'll let you go," Globby tells him, he reaches the top and grabs Krei off his back and places him down.

Krei recognizes the device on Globby's head, "Hey that's my neurotransmitter! It's worth billions! Give it back!" He grabs the device and attempts to yank it off, but it's glued to Globby's head.

"Hey get out of my head!" Globby exclaims, Krei's tugging does little to no effort. As this is going on Bluff Dunder arrives on the scene in his helicopter, he's reporting live.

"This is Bluff Dunder, bringing you Monster Watch, live in the sky!" He reports.

Krei slips as he's trying to grab the neurotransmitter, the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground is him gripping Globby's head.  
"Aaah!" Krei yells, the glob monster then brings his head back up and drops Krei back.  
"I might drop you if I can't control my body with your invention!" Globby warns as he's swinging around.  
"There's nothing to learn!" Krei exclaims, "Just think! Can you think? And it will naturally work!"  
"Yeah but nothing works naturally to me," Globby lifts up one of his hands, Krei then notices a familiar group of superheroes flying his way.

"Aha! Big Hero 6!" he exclaims as they land on the ground, "You could have gotten here sooner, but uh, you can work on that."

"You might want to save the critique until after we rescue you." Gogo points out.

Wasabi activates his plasma blades, "Your disgusting reign of terror stops now Globby!" he charges at the monster, Globby in response starts throwing goop at him.

Wasabi cuts the goop thrown at him but one glob hits Baymax in the face.  
"Baymax!" Hiro turns to the robot.  
" _My visual sensors are impaired,_ " Baymax attempts to remove the goop but is unable too.

"Nobody does that to Baymax!" Wasabi glares at Globby, "And gets away with it!" he charges at the glob monster who starts whipping his arms. Wasabi reaches the edge and panics, his fear of heights kicking in.

"So high.." Wasabi whimpers and clings onto the point of the skyscraper in fear. The helicopter light shines on the superheroes, they cover their eyes at the bright light.  
"Big Hero 6 has joined Globby on the roof, you can count on Bluff Dunder for second-by-second updates on this developing situation." Bluff Dunder reports.

"Globby!" Honey Lemon calls out to the monster, "This will make you not sticky!"  
"Stay back!" Globby warns her, "you're upsetting the monster!"

"Let Krei go!" Hiro demands.

"Wording people!" Krei exclaims, as Globby is the only thing keeping him from falling to death.

"Everyone just be quiet!"  
"Can we just do this? Some of us don't want to splatter all over the ground!" Wasabi whimpers.

Globby groans, bringing a hand to his forehead, "Oh I've been making' a lot of bad decisions lately."

" _He is in need of positive reinforcement."_ Baymax states, facing the opposite way because his vision still impaired.

"Oh." Fred and the rest of them stare at Honey Lemon.  
"Don't look at me." Honey Lemon frowns.  
"But positive reinforcement is your thing," Gogo argues, "We don't need another glass-half-empty girl, I've got that covered."  
"Yeah.." Honey Lemon nods.  
"Your ridiculous upbeat attitude takes some time to get used to..but it's good for me." Gogo smiles, a butterfly lands on her shoulder.

"Thanks Gogo," Honey Lemon smiles, "You're the best!" she pulls her into a quick hug.  
"Now make that freak of nature feel good about herself," Gogo tells her they end the hug.

" _That sounded like an excellent pep talk._ " Baymax notes.

Honey Lemon turns to face the monster, "Listen Globby, I know things look bad now but there's always a super lining. You can make this work!"

"The hero says there's a silver lining for the monster, seems like a stretch for this reporter." Bluff Dunder states from his helicopter.

"Oh come on." Globby huffs, "Nobody believes in me! Why would you? You don't even know me!"

"Before, you were just a common purse thief. Now if you dedicate yourself to making the best out of the situation, you can truly be special." She smiles, "nobody else has your...abilities"  
"Ya think?" Globby asks.

"I know," she nods.

"You're right.." Globby realizes, "this is a new beginning for me.." he places Krei back on the ground, the CEO claps his hands together.

"Very touching pep-talk, but I want my prototype back." Krei grabs the unsticky ball from Honey Lemon.

"Get in there! We need a better shot!" Bluff Dunder tells the helicopter driver, however it causes Krei to fall off the skyscraper.

The superheroes gasp as Krei falls, but Globby stretches and reaches for the CEO, "I am special!" he exclaims, grabbing Krei before he falls to the ground, "Gotcha!"

"This is a little awkward…" Krei notes, "Thanks..I guess."

"Thank her," Globby points to Honey Lemon, "She believed in me!"

"Aww thanks." Honey Lemon smiles.  
"My days of being a loser small-time purse snatcher are behind me." Globby states.  
"That's right!" Honey Lemon beams, "You're better than that!"

"I am! And that's why I'm going to become a supervillain!"

Honey Lemon frowns, "No that's really not-"  
"The world will come to fear the name Globby!" he gives an evil laugh as he leaps off the building, using his stretchy limbs to swing across the buildings.

"Hey! He stole my wallet!" Krei exclaims, realizing it wasn't in his pocket.

"He just robbed the richest man in San Fransokyo?" Fred gasped, "I think he's going to make this supervillain thing work!"

Globby laughs evilly as he swings from building to building, then he hits the window of a building, "Ow...darn it!"

* * *

"Breaking News, the monster known as Globby has declared himself as a supervillain," Bluff Dunder reports. "CEO Alistar Krei reports that he had his wallet stolen by Globby, what other crime will he commit? And can Big Hero 6 stop him?"

Ari turns off the tv, and sighed. "Aw man...not another supervillain.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Globby Globby Globby, making poor life choices
> 
> Well we know how it works out in the end, but writing him as a villain sure should be a treat! XD
> 
> Anyways I got some good stuff coming next week! I grantee!


	10. Chapter 9: (Fred's Bro-Tillion) Cater Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari attends Fred's Bro-Tillion with the Fern kids! Then an uninvited guest shows up

When Ari went downstairs this morning to work in the cafe, she was surprised to see the coffee machine was broken.  
"What happened?" she pointed to the broken machine, Ari could've sworn it was functioning fine yesterday, if not a little slow on making coffee.

"Coffee machine broke," Mikan was the one to answer, the biotech major was having her usual blueberry scone in the cafe. "You missed it, a piece of the machine went flying everywhere and Baymax had to catch it, and he also got eggs on him and it looked hilarious, I filmed it if you want to see."  
"Maybe later," Ari had to work, but she noticed that the robot wasn't in the cafe, "Where is Baymax? And Hiro?"  
"Oh him and his friends rushed to Fred's something about an emergency," Mikan explains, "I asked in group chat and they said it was his 'Bro-Tillion' or something."  
"Bro-Tillion?" Ari gasps, she's heard of that term before. "Fred mentioned it to me once, called it his least favorite kind of party because it was full of stuffy rich people."  
"Isn't Fred a stuffy rich person?" Mikan raises an eyebrow.

"No, he's got lots of compassion for someone with his level of money." Ari argues, "You know this phone I'm using right now? Fred was the one who bought it."  
Mikan gives a sharp whistle, "Wow, that was kind of him."  
"Yeah, I said he didn't have to but he did anyways, I wish there was a way I could repay Fred for his kindness." Ari hummed, "Want another scone?" she noticed that Mikan was halfway done hers.

"Yep, I'm also getting one extra for my dad." Mikan finishes the rest of her scone in one bite, "he's the reason I enjoy blueberry scones too much, it's our favorite pastry."  
Ari chuckles, she goes to the pastry counter and grabs Mikan her order. As she does that, she notices that Cass gets a phone call, curious, Ari walks over to hear what the conversation is.

"Hey Hiro!" Cass spoke on the phone, "Really? That's great!"  
"What? What is it?" Ari questions, Cass gets off the phone for a moment to answer her.

"Hiro says I'm gonna be able to afford a new espresso machine," Cass tells her, a large smile was on the woman's face.

"That's great!" Ari cheers, Cass gets back on the phone.

"Yes I've done catering before, what date?...Saturday? Hmm," Cass looked hesitant.  
"Ask him what the catering job is for," Ari asks, she's curious what was going on Saturday.

"Can you tell me what the catering job is for?" Cass indeed asks Hiro the question, when she gets an answer Cass gets off the phone to answer her.  
"He says it's for Fred's 'Bro-Tillion', not sure what that is." Cass answers, Ari gives a gasp.  
"You should accept the catering job!" Ari exclaims, "Fred could use all the help he can get for that party! Please?" she attempts her puppy eye trick to persuade Cass, she just chuckles.  
"Of course I'll accept," Cass gets back on the phone, "Bye Hiro, I love you." she ends the call, then texts Hiro a message on his phone, "Guess wishes are coming true today."  
"I know right!" Ari was happy she'd be able to help Fred just as much as the comic fan helped her, "What can I do for the catering? Can I help in the kitchen?"  
"Aww that's sweet of you to help," Cass chuckled, "However I'll be fine, you should get a chance to enjoy the party."  
"What? I wanna help!" Ari huffs.  
"And you've been helping me plenty in the cafe, you're still a kid Ari, you deserve some fun." Cass gives her a pat on the head, then goes to refill a customer's drink.

Ari sighs, "She's right…" _At least I can give Fred some emotional support at the party..that's all, nothing should go wrong with Cass being the caterer…_

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Hey Fred! How is dance practice?

Fredilicous24: Awful! XP

Sara Ferns: Oof

TheLittleMermaid: I believe in you Fred! : D

Fredilicous24: Thanks Ari! : D

TheLittleMermaid: : D

Honey Lemon: Ahhhh so pure!

Hiro Hamada: Hey Ari you excited for the party?

TheLittleMermaid: Yep! Though I'm annoyed Cass banned me from helping her cater :C

Wasabi: Aw don't worry, you don't have to help serve appetizers like the rest of us

TheLittleMermaid: But I want to help Fred!  
Fredilicous24: You being at my Bro-Tillion is enough help for me : D

TheLittleMermaid: : D

* * *

Ari chuckled, putting away the group chat, "Fred's a good person."

"Yes, yes he is." she hears David behind her, "It was nice of him to give us invitations." It was Tuesday, and her friends were busy helping Fred prepare for his Bro-Tillion.  
"Well he could use all the emotional support." Ari nods, "Can't believe this 'Binky Mole' lady doesn't think Fred is impressive enough."  
"I can't believe his mom thinks she has to impress her." David adds, "If someone is that snobby, stuck-up and rude, don't waste time and effort trying to impress them."

"Hmm, I wonder if I should bring a plus one with me to the party." Ari hums, she refills David's cup of tea.  
"Thank you, who would you bring along?" David takes a sip from his tea.  
"Not sure, I guess Karmi?" David almost spits out his tea from her statement, but he manages to swallow it down. Ari looks at him in confusion, "What?"

"Nothing!" David replies, "I didn't expect that answer from you."

"Well who do you think I'd bring along?" Ari puts a hand on her hip.

"You still have a crush on Juniper don't you?" David questions, that got her all flustered, "wouldn't you bring her to the Bro-Tillion if you could?"

"Wh-wha?! Keep your voice low!" Ari stammers.

"Guess that answers my question," David takes a sip from his tea, "there's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's just a crush."

"On a crime dancer…" She sighed, "I still can't get her out of my head, why do I like her?"

"I know how you feel Ari," David pats her on the shoulder. "My birth mother is not a good person, but I still love her."

Ari looks at him in shock, she had never heard him talk about his blood family before, she assumed that David was an orphan.

"Guess nobody told you judging by the silence," David noted, taking a casual sip of his tea like he didn't drop that bombshell, "it's a long story, but to make it short my mom couldn't keep me safe so she gave me to the Fern family, I found her again about a year ago and we talk."

"Do you resent your mother for giving you away?" Ari questions.

David shook his head, "No, she wanted to protect me. It was hard on her and I don't resent her, because she loves me."

Ari ponders his words, a faint feeling of deja vu in her bones. As if someone told this to her long ago..

* * *

Saturday night and Fred's Bro-Tillion looked amazing! Hiro and his friends were helping Cass cater by serving appetizers, even Baymax was serving! The robot had a little black bow tie around his neck, it looked adorable.

"If Binky Mole isn't impressed, then there's something wrong with her," Mikan states, she was wearing a black and white tuxedo suit. Her brother David and Steven were also wearing tuxedos. Sally and Sara opted to wear matching cherry pink dresses.

"You guys look great!" Ari claps at how fancy the Fern family looked, she herself was wearing a turquoise green dress that went down to her knees, dark blue pumps, and light blue leggings underneath.

"You look pretty yourself," David chuckles, Ari blushes at the compliment.

"You can't even see her dress," Sara pointed out.

"I know but it's common courtesy," David smirked, "hey Dad can Ari and us get food?"

"Sure, have fun kids." Steven tells them, and Ari feels herself dragged by Mikan over to the buffet table.

"Fred was not kidding when he claimed stuffy people attended this party," Ari looks at the crowd, most of the partygoers looked like the typical snobby rich person.

"I know," Sara takes a bite out of her food, "Must every rich person flex their wealth in stupid ways?"

"Not all, look who attended!" Mikan pointed to a group of three, a couple and their daughter.

"Who is it?" David asks Sara.

"Detective Rosemary and his family!" She answers, Ari's ears perk up at the surname, since it's the same as hers.

"I've never heard of them," Ari stares at the group, "Can you tell me more?"

"Sure I can!" Sara nods, she points to the man, he has dark green eyes, spiky light brown hair, and pale skin, there was a bit of hair under his chin and was wearing a tuxedo like the other guests.

"That's Detective Elio Rosemary, he's very good at his job. Crime went down a lot when he moved here last year!" She points to the woman next, she has dark brown eyes, long fluffy dark hair, and coco brown skin, she was wearing a crimson red dress and pumps.

"That's his wife Sarah Rosemary, we share the same name! Except hers has an 'H' in it, she's a teacher at Bridgeton high school." Sara points to the daughter, she had bright emerald green eyes, familiar fluffy brown hair, and skin a darker shade than her father, she was wearing a dark green dress with black flats and a white rosemary accessory on her ear. There were faint scars on her forehead and arm, that was slightly covered with concealer.

"And that's their only child, Rachel Rosemary. She's pretty chill on social media, I've met her once! She's a very kind person and super mature for her age."  
"I recognize her, she's a regular at the Lucky Cat." Ari notes, "Tends to get an order of milk and some type of pasty, usually a donut."

"Huh," Sara hums, "Hey, isn't your last name Rosemary?"  
"Yeah, that's a funny coincidence." Ari chuckles, "None of them look familiar, so I don't know them on a personal level." But it was a funny coincidence to her! She wondered if she should go talk to them.

* * *

"Hey guys." Hiro walked over, holding a tray of animal shaped horderves, they thanked him as they all grabbed one.  
"Hi Hiro!" Ari waves, eating the appetizer in one gulp, "Wow this is good!"

"Glad you're enjoying the party," Hiro chuckles, "Hope Fred is as well."  
"I don't think he would," David frowns, "This is nice, but it's not Fred's style."  
"Yeah but not like any of us can convince his mom." Mikan notes, "Plus he really wanted to help her impress Binky this year, let's just hope karma treats him well."

They hear the sound of a microphone and turn around, Mrs. Fredrickson is speaking to the guests. "Good evening all, thank you for coming." she speaks through the microphone, "It is with great pride that I introduce the bro of the hour, my son Frederick." as Fred walks forward the crowd claps. Fred is wearing a tuxedo, with his beanie on his head. Ari notices at how nervous Fred is, she hoped that he wasn't going to be uncomfortable for the entire party.

Fred however, notices someone he feared, "Binky!" He grabs Baymax and rushes back, "Baymax help! I forgot all the steps! What do I do?!"

Baymax scans the panicking Fred, " _Your systems indicate acute anxiety, I recommend deep calming breaths._ "

Fred starts to breath heavy, but it's not calming. " _Oh no, now you are hyperventilating. Breathe into this._ " Baymax gives him his hand and Fred breathes into it like a paper bag. Ari felt so bad for poor Fred, he was so freaked out! But then, the room started to shake.

* * *

 _What on earth?!_ Ari looks around as the rumbling continues.

"It's not working! It feels like the whole room is shaking!" Fred exclaims, he stops breathing into Baymax's arm.

"Why is everything rumbling?" David questions, the noise was getting louder.  
"I have no idea," Mikan looks around, "It better not be an earthquake!"  
"I'm pretty sure there wasn't an earthquake warning in the forecast today," Sara points out, "This is not a natural disaster."

The rumbling reaches its peak as a ginormous drill bursts from the floorboards, the partygoers run away from the drill in panic.  
"Oh god giant drill!" Sara exclaims, "It's the mole men!"

The drill latch opens and it was not a "mole man" that came out, but instead it was an elder man with a lanky build that was part metallic, his right arm and eye replaced by prosthetic parts and he also had grey facial hair.

"Greetings, San Fransokyo, it is I, Baron Von Steamer!" he declares to the audience.

"Great another supervillain," Ari groans, "Why are they coming out of the woodworks like ants?" Next to her, David just shrugged.  
The partygoers just stare at Steamer, "I was a pretty well known villain in my day..no? Steam? Steamer?" he releases steam from the steam machine on his arm, the dampness frizzles Ari's hair and several other partygoers, including Binky.

"Nobody remembers?! Uhg, well I guess there's no room in your fancy pocket vest telephones for history!"  
"Nobody cares grandpa!" Mikan yells at the villain, Sara punches her in the shoulder.  
"Don't anger the villain!" Sara glares.

Mrs. Fredrickson is annoyed, she taps the microphone, "This is a private affair sir, and you did not RSVP." she informs.

"I did not RSVP, and I didn't bring a guess. But I am taking one.." Steamer points to the stage where Fred, Wasabi, and Baymax are, "Frederick Fredrickson the Fourth!"

"Wait what?!" Fred exclaims, "Does this mean I don't have to dance?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you guys know me, or at least check out my DA..you might know the Rosemary family, Sarah (with an h), Elio, and Rachel (though her other half has not been mentioned/shown...yet)...they'll get speaking lines eventually
> 
> I love them, so much. This chapter was mostly OC-centric, I just love writing Ari's interactions with the Fern kids..and you guys get some fun facts about them, some of them might be plot relevant so take notes!
> 
> Question of the week: How do you feel about the Rosemary's?


	11. Chapter 10: (Fred's Bro-Tillion) Boss Awesome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steamer kidnaps Wasabi. The gang learn a secret about Fred's dad. Then they rescue their friend.

Ari reacted to the villains demand with rage, "You're taking Fred over my dead body!" she charged at Steamer, but Mikan grabs her, preventing her from attacking the villain. "Let me at him! You touch my friend with your steam gun and I will destroy you Steamer! You're not the scariest supervillain I've faced! Let me go Mikan!"  
"Nope," Mikan shrugs, "What are you gonna do? Punch the steam away?"

"If you will not hand over Frederick peacefully," Steamer loads his weapon, "Than I will take him by force!" he begins to destroy the place, partygoers scream in terror and run away.

"Yep time to go!" Mikan starts dragging her siblings and Ari towards the exit, but she slips out of her grasp, "Wait Ari come back!"  
Ari ignores her, and runs to Fred's side, "Don't worry he's not going to get you on my watch!"  
"Thanks Ari but you should run!" Fred tells her, she shakes her head.

"No way! I'm going to protect my friend!" she exclaims.

As partygoers are fleeing the scene, Cass is handing out business cards.

"Here you go! And one for you!" she hands the fleeing partygoers business cards, "Lucky Cat catering, tell your friends!"  
Mikan stops at the door, and grabs Cass, "No time for advertising! Gotta go!"

As Binky Mole leaves the party, Mrs. Fredrickson calls after her, "Binky wait! There's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this! I think.." she runs after the woman, "Binky come back!"  
Ari sighs, "Wow…" it was not worth the effort it took to attempt impressing such a snobby woman.

"I know right? I can't believe a supervillain crashed my Bro-Tillion!" Fred nods.  
"Yeah! A supervillain crashed your Bro-Tillion! And is attempting to kidnap you!" Wasabi grabs Fred and runs for the door, Ari follows after them.

"Protect Fred!" Hiro exclaims.

"On it!" Gogo drops all the horderves on her plate, skates over and tosses it at Steamer, he grabs it with his mechanical arm and crushes it. He then creates a cloud of steam, giving an evil laugh as he hides under the foggy cover.

Hiro grabs several utensils from a nearby table and tosses it at the steam cloud, Gogo also skates over and tries to grab Steamer, but the villain has disappeared from the cloud.

"How did he do that?!" Ari exclaims, she then notices a looming steam cloud heading towards Baymax, "Watch out!"

" _Scanning,_ " Baymax scans the steam cloud to see if he's there, but Honey Lemon blows the steam away with a tablecloth. Steamer glares at her and blasts steam at her direction but she dodges away before it hits her.

"Honey Lemon!" Hiro and Gogo grab her and they hide behind a pillar to avoid the barrage of steam blasted at them.

"This would be easier if we had our gear," Gogo grumbles.  
"How was I supposed to know!?" Hiro exclaims, in a quieter tone he adds, "I didn't think there would be a supervillain crashing in."  
As Steamer is continuing to blast steam, Baymax adds " _Steam is hazardous, it can cause third-degree burns._ "

"That is the ambition of the weapon!" Steamer tells him, pointing his weapon at Baymax, "pale dirigible!"

He blasts Baymax, sending him flying past the ice sculpture of Fred, " _That is hot._ " he says as he flew past the sculpture.

The exposure of heat causes the ice sculpture to melt, "That's disturbing.." Ari states as it turns into a puddle on the floor.

"No kidding!" Fred adds, they're both hiding behind the piano, "A bro should not have to see his own face melted!"  
"Don't look at it!" Wasabi grabs Fred by the shoulder and makes a run for the door.

Ari yelps, noticing Steamer stomping towards the piano, she runs after the guys as Steamer grabs the piano with his mechanical arms, breaking the piano keys and tossing it behind. The piano lands towards Hiro, Gogo, and Honey Lemon, who move out of the way so they're not crushed by the falling instrument.

"The door!" Ari points to a door at the end of the room, they all run over and attempt to open it. Wasabi tries open the handle but it's jammed.

"Oh come on!" he exclaims at the door, then notices the steam surrounding him, Fred, and Ari. They turn to see Steamer right behind them, Ari on instinct steps in front of Fred, ready to defend him from the crazed supervillain.

"Ah, young Frederick." Steamer steps out of a steam cloud, "You have grown since the baby child you presumably were at one point.."

Wasabi turns to Fred, "So I'm guessing two haven't met."  
"I'm pretty sure I'd remember."

Steamer pulls out a photo from his shirt, "You are the spitting image of your accursed father?"  
"Father?" Ari raises an eyebrow, this villain had a grudge against Fred's dad?

Steamer doesn't answer, he reaches out to grab-

"Ahh! What the!?" Wasabi feels the mechanical arm grabbing his tuxedo and he's dragged on the ground as Steamer starts stomping away.

"Guys help!" he exclaims as the villain is dragging him away.

"Wasabi!" the others run to confront Steamer but the villain creates a steam cloud, laughing as he slips under the cover.  
"Let him go!" Gogo launches herself through the cloud only to find no sign of Steamer.  
"How does he keep doing that?!" Ari exclaims, "And why'd he grab Wasabi!?"

"He must've thought that Wasabi was Fred!" Honey Lemon tells her.

"I'm not Fred!" Wasabi yells to the villain dragging him, but he wouldn't listen.  
"Silence prisoner!" Steamer releases enough steam so the entire room is foggy, Ari can't see anything but she could hear the voice of the villain. "Tell Boss Awesome he has until midnight to surrender! If he ever wants to see his precious baby child again!" Hiro and Gogo look through the steam to try and find Steamer and Wasabi.

Honey Lemon attempts as well, but the steam is fogging up her glasses, she wipes them clean and puts them back on but they get fogged up again, she frowns as she can't see anything. Steamer gives out an evil laugh as the fog gets thicker.

"Kay not sure which way your creepy laugh is coming from," Ari hears Fred through the smoke, "Could you cackle again please?"  
"No!" Steamer yells back, the fog clears to reveal the villain and Wasabi are gone, as well as the drill the villain used to crash the party in the first place.

"Oh no!" Ari and the others run to the hole.  
"He got Wasabi!" Honey Lemon exclaims, worried for her friend's safety.

"I think the supervillain..Steamer thought that Wasabi was me!" Fred pointed out.

"He's a super confused villain," Gogo notes.  
"I'm also confused," Hiro rubs his head, "Who's Boss Awesome?"

Ari notices Fred has a look of realization on his face, "I uh..know," the others turn to face him, "It's a long story."  
"How do you know?" Gogo raises an eyebrow.  
"I found out shortly after the whole Cal.." Fred stops himself, remembering Ari is in the room, "The incident at Krei-Tech, it's at my house, it's better seeing it than hearing it."

* * *

They all head to Fred's house, which is more of a mansion than a house in Ari's humble opinion. Watching as Fred activates a secret switch behind a family photo, revealing a secret room. They all walk in, and Fred was right that it was better to see it than hear from him.  
"Your dad was a superhero?" Honey Lemon gasps at a picture of Boss Awesome on the wall, the room is full of superhero equipment.  
"Named Boss Awesome," Gogo is unamused by the choice of name.  
"Twas the seventies, it fit in that time period," Fred explains.

"Fred?" Hiro is holding one of the superhero weapons in his arms, "Should we be in here?"  
"Yeah I'm pretty sure a main superhero code is the anonymity," Ari adds, "I mean how else would Big Hero 6 protect the city if everyone knew who they were! I wouldn't blame any of my friends for not telling me if they were a secret superhero."  
They all sweatdropped, at least she wouldn't get mad at them if she found out they were Big Hero 6.

"Technically we shouldn't be here..but Dad's halfway around the world in Switzerstate," Fred points out.  
"We can keep a secret, don't worry Fred!" Honey Lemon tells him, as she's holding a pair of superhero underwear.

The monitor behind Fred flicks to life, revealing a man that could only be Fred's dad, he clears his throat before speaking.

" _I'm glad somebody can,_ " Mr. Fredrickson is wearing heavy snow gear and is atop a snowy mountain.

Fred turns around to face his dad, "Uh hey Dad.."  
"Hi Mr. Fredrickson," Honey Lemon drops the superhero underwear she's holding and waves at him.  
" _Do you mind telling me what you and your friends are doing in my secret superhero den?_ " Mr. Fredrickson asks.

"Does he even use this anymore?" Ari whispers to Hiro.  
"I don't know." Hiro whispers back.  
"So long story," Fred begins to explain, "We're at my Bro-Tillion, and then this guy named Steamer shows up! And he looked part cyborg and had a metal eye!" he places a hand to his eye and mimics the glass eye that Steamer had.

" _Cyborg with a metal eye?_ " Mr. Fredrickson removes his snow goggles, " _you mean Baron Von Steamer?_ "

"Yeah, that's the one." Gogo confirms.

" _I can't believe he's still in the game!_ " he exclaims, " _He was old back in the day!_ "  
"Well he's back, for revenge!" Fred brings his hands up in a dramatic manner at the word "revenge".

" _Of course he is, he was my arch-nemesis._ " Mr. Fredrickson explains.  
"That's still a thing?" Ari raises an eyebrow, "Way to hold a grudge."

"Sir," Hiro speaks up, "he captured our friend Wasabi, do you have any idea where he'd take him?"

" _He had multiple hideouts if I recall,_ " Mr. Fredrickson brings a hand to his chin in thought, " _But he had a couple of favorites, hit that button there._ " he points to a button on the control panel that Fred hits. It brings up a virtual map of San Fransokyo's streets, " _The lights indicate the locations of Steamer's old lairs,_ " multiple red lights blink on the map.  
"There's too many!" Ari exclaims, "We're never going to find Wasabi before midnight!"  
"Don't worry Ari, I can narrow the list." Fred starts turning of lights, "This ones a Noodle Burger now, and so is that one, that's another Noodle Burger, and another, oh wait that one's actually a Yaki Taco." Hiro walks up to the virtual map  
"So the one two that aren't Noodle Burgers-"  
"Or a delicious Yaki Taco place," Ari adds in.

"Are the abandoned subway station and the old ironworks." he points to the locations on the map.

"Which are on opposite sides of the city," Gogo points out, "Great."  
"We'd have to split up." Hiro grumbles.  
" _Classic!_ " a yeti appears behind Mr. Fredrickson on screen and roars, he punches it in the face without turning to face it.

"So what should I do?" Ari raises her hand, they all hesitate to respond with an answer that could endanger their identities.  
"Oh Ari! I have an important job for you!" Fred exclaims, "I have a spotlight that you could use to alert Big Hero 6 while we go looking! So if the superheroes are on patrol tonight you can tell them what's going on!"

"I'm on it!' and she rushes out of the room, "I'll ask Heathcliff where it is!"

They all give sighs of relief when she leaves.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Hey guys are you okay!? I didn't see you leave the party!  
TheLittleMermaid: WASABI GOT ABDUCTED

Hiro Hamada: Ari!  
TheLittleMermaid: She had a right to know!  
Mikan Ferns: She fainted

TheLittleMermaid: D : sorry!  
Mikan Ferns: This is very concerning! Anything I can do to help!?

Fredilicous24: Thanks but we're good, Ari is using a spotlight to try and attract Big Hero 6 while we're searching

Gogo: We'll let you know if any updates happen

Mikan Ferns: Good, I hope Wasabi is okay..poor guy

* * *

"I hope Wasabi is okay too." Ari mumbles as she's using the spotlight, the letters "Halp" appearing in the darkening sky, "I'm worried."

She picks the sound of jets, looking up she sees a familiar red robot flying in the sky. It notices the "Halp" symbol and begins to fly down, landing right next to her, she gives a gasp.  
"Big Hero 6!" she exclaims, it was the members Purple and Red, the two that seemed glued together.  
"I noticed the symbol while we were on night patrol," Purple explains, "What is the problem?"  
"S-sir, my friend got kidnapped by this Baron Von Steamer guy," Ari stammers, she felt intimidated in the presence of a hero, "I had the spotlight up because I need help."

" _We will help you rescue your friend_ ," Red tells her.

"Thank you! Steamer is probably at the abandoned subway station or the old ironworks," Ari explains, "I got the information from Boss Awesome himself if it helps my case!"  
"The information will help our search much easier," Purple presses something on his helm, "I will message the team about this and we will rescue your friend from Baron Von Steamer, you should stay inside just to keep safe."

"I will sir, thank so much." Ari was relieved the superhero was going to help.  
"It's my job," Purple gets back on Red and they fly back into the sky, Ari watches them leave a trail of smoke as they grow distant. She turns off the spotlight and heads inside, "I hope it's soon.."

* * *

After going out of the way to reassuring Ari that they (Big Hero 6) would rescue Wasabi, Hiro and Baymax were flying down the abandoned subway station. As they're flying down, Hiro hears a familiar voice.  
"Salutations nosy interlopers!" it was the voice of Steamer, Baymax stops flying and lands on the ground to listen. "You have made the grievous error of the lair of Baron Von Steamer!" as they're walking down the tracks a trap on the wall activates. However Baymax grabs the trap and breaks it before it can squish Hiro.

"That was close," Hiro gives a sigh of relief, "Thanks Baymax."  
" _You are welcome._ " he goes to inspect the trap.

"Booby trapped, old timey booby trap but still booby trapped."

" _I will search for more booby traps,_ " Baymax activates a flashlight as he and Hiro walk down the tracks.

They stop, "Woah hold on," Hiro used his helm to detect something headed their way, "I'm picking up a heat signature, it could be a furnace?" he turns to Baymax.

" _Do furnaces typically move?_ " Baymax asks him.

"Not typically,"

" _It is moving. Toward us, rapidly._ " Baymax states, a light from around the corner brightens their vision.  
"It's another booby trap!" Hiro realizes.

" _Oh no._ " the booby trap reveals itself to be a steam powered train, heading straight towards them.

" _I suggest we leave,_ " Hiro climbs on top of Baymax and prepares to fly out, but the way them closes on itself with multiple doors, leaving them nowhere to run and impending doom heading their way. "T _hat is unfortunate._ "

Hiro gets off of Baymax, an idea on what to do forming in his head, "Baymax! Power lift!" as the train is heading towards them Baymax lifts up the rails upwards, he then turns around and grabs Hiro, protecting him as the train heads up the rails.

As the smoke clears from the train, Baymax lets go of Hiro, " _You are safe now._ "

Hiro coughs from the smoke and starts moving again, "Thanks Baymax!"

As they move past the train, they hear Steamer's voice, "Salutations nosy interlopers! You have made the grievous error of the lair of Baron Von Steamer!"

"Where is he?" as the train falls the voice kept repeating the word "Error" over and over again.

" _Baron Von Steamer, is not here._ " Baymax states as Hiro finds a phonograph that was playing Steamer's voice all long, he turns it off.

"We need to get to the old ironworks, fast!" he tells him, and they fly off to meet up with the others.

* * *

At the old ironworks, rats scurry as Gogo skates past them. "Well this place is disgusting."

"Yeah, Steamer really nailed-"  
"Guys look!" Honey Lemon picks up a kitten shaped horderve, "It's Rodrigo! He made it!"

"Wasabi's leading us a trail." Gogo notes, it was the logical explanation for the horderve being at the ironworks.

Fred walks up to them, and grabs the horderve, "Hmm," he inspects for awhile. Then puts it in his mouth and starts chewing it up, with Honey Lemon looking in horror. Fred notices the expression on her face, "Oh I'm sorry, did you want to eat this?"

Honey Lemon's eye twitches, "Uh...Rodrigo."  
"I warned you not to get emotionally attached to the horderves Honey Lemon," Gogo facepalms.

* * *

Meanwhile, under the old ironworks is Wasabi high in a cage. Steamer was working on a machine, not paying attention and muttering under his breath.

"Boss Awesome thinks he's so special..Boss Awesome thinks he's the bee's knees!" Wasabi pulls out his phone as the villain isn't looking and realizes he has no signal.  
"Of course," he sighs, he glances at the villain who isn't paying attention at all,

"Tonight..Baron Von Steamer is the bee's knees!" Wasabi tries angling his phone to try to get a signal but it makes the cage move, as it squeaks Steamer glances at his prisoner, who points up to the rope where the cage is suspended from. He goes back to his tinkering and Wasabi tries getting a signal by dangling his phone out of the cage, he gets a signal bar but the phone slips out of his grasp. He tries grabbing it but the phone falls to the ground and breaks, "Oh no.."

Steamer looks at the broken phone, "Yes! Midnight is nigh my captive buffoon, and your daddy's not here.."  
"I'm not Fred!" Wasabi exclaims for the one hundredth time, "and my daddy's an orthodontist! Not this Boss Awesome person!"

"Nice try baby child!" Steamer doesn't believe him yet again, he pulls a lever, "Fire up the ironworks!" lava starts pouring down a pit as Wasabi is being lowered down it, he gives an evil laugh as he does this.

Wasabi screams in terror, "Aaah! No stop! Stop! Ah! Well-wh-what if I say I am-" he notices his friends, "Fred?"  
"Super jump!" Fred leaps into the air and blasts the machine with flames, but it starts to burn the rope Wasabi's cage is connected to.

"Aren't you supposed to be saving me?! Aaah!" Wasabi screams at the flames get closer to his cage, Gogo skids around and hits the cage from the side. It hits the wall, Wasabi shields his eyes at it happens.

Gogo skates to him, "You can open your eyes know.."

"Not ready yet!" he tells her, continuing to curl himself into a ball and shut his eyes.

Steamer grumbles as his plan was foiled, he hits a lever and a steam powered elevator comes from the roof and he makes his escape.

"Millennials!" he exclaims as he and the steam powered elevator through the roof.

Wasabi then opens his eyes, "Did he just give up?"

Honey Lemon opens some of the metal cage bars to make it easier for Wasabi to crawl out, "I think we should get out of here now."  
"Could not agree more," Wasabi nods, but then an alarm is heard, "What is that?!"

He points to a machine emerging from the room, followed by Steamer's evil cackle.

As the machine comes into the light, it reveals to be a mechanical spider, "What is that?" Honey Lemon questions, it leaps from the room and lands on the floor.

"Kay guys.." Fred's voice is full of fear, "I lied..my fear of spiders is debilitating.."

"Where is Boss Awesome!?" Steamer demands from the machine cockpit, "You're not bosses, or awesome!"

"Watch out!" Gogo exclaims as one of the machine's legs hits where they're standing and they all dodge out of the way.

"So it's a spider with a hammer!" Fred hides behind one of the stalagmites in terror.

"I don't see what this has to do with steam!" Gogo throws one of her disks at the machine and dodges a laser shot at her.

"You can't tell from the outside but it's steampowered!" Steamer explains.

"I guess we'll have to take your word for it," Honey Lemon throws one of her chem balls, it hits one of the leg hammers. Steamer roars, he swings at Honey Lemon but she creates a bubble shield that blocks the blow, he hits the shield multiple times then notices where Wasabi his hiding.  
"There you are...baby child Frederick!" he still thought that Wasabi was Fred.  
"Uh Fred, you wanna say something right now?" he glances at his friend for help, but he was hyperventilating in his suit, paralyzed by arachnophobia.

The hammer breaks Honey Lemon's shield, and Gogo grabs her to safety, "Run Wasabi!" she yells to him as Steamer attempts to stomp him with a hammer.

As Wasabi slips and falls into the lava pit, Hiro and Baymax arrive just in time to pull him to safety. "Gotcha!" Hiro says as they pull from the pit and land him on the floor.

* * *

"How many of you are there!?" Steamer exclaims.

"Baymax, am I glad to see you," Wasabi clings onto the robot's arms.

" _Scanning,_ " Baymax scans him, " _you are unharmed, but damp._ "

"Yeah, well it's hot in here." Wasabi explains, he then adds "and I uh..maybe..peed myself a little."  
Baymax turns around to stare at him, " _Oh._ "

"That's it." Gogo leaps into the air throwing two disks at the machine's window, with no effect. She dodges a claw but bumps into Honey Lemon, who drops a chem ball that traps them both in goop. Hiro and Baymax fly at the machine, it begins to charge a laser at them.

"Baymax look out!" they dodge the attack but one of the legs pin down Baymax and knocks HIro off of him, he skids across the ground and is unable to get up.

" _Hiro, are you injured?_ " Baymax asks him.

Hiro is struggling to pull himself up, "Fred, help," he glances at his stiff friend.

"Huge spider, so big, so many legs." he notices he's the last one standing, "Oh no..everybody! C'mon Fred, you can do this!" he pulls himself together and leaps in front of the robot. "That's it! You want Frederick Fredrickson the Fourth? Well here I am! In a lizard costume!"

"Wait," Steamer pulls out the picture of Boss Awesome, looking at it then back at Fred. "You're Frederick? Ah, yes I see the resemblance." He turns to Wasabi, "You scoundrel! You dare impersonate a Fredrickson?!"

Wasabi frowns, "Yeah, that's what I was doing."

Steamer turns his attention back to Fred, "At last...I will exact my revenge, by defeating my arch-nemesis little baby child!" he raises one of the hammers.

"Listen Steamer! Today is my Bro-Tillion! Today I am not a 'baby child' I am a 'man child!'" Fred declares, as Steamer smashes the hammer he waltzes out of the way, "Step! Side!" just like Baymax had taught him, he releases a fire blast that melts one of the machine legs.

"Hold still you fidget-"  
Fred breaks another leg by kicking it.

"Cease your prancing!"

He melts another one of the machine legs.  
"Stop melting my legs!"

Fred leaps from wall to wall, then he kicks the side of the machine, knocking it over and smashing it to bits.  
"You crashed the wrong party Steamer!" Fred takes a bow as he's done the dance.

As Fred goes to assist his friends, Steamer exits out of the machine, he removes his steam weapon.

"It appears you have bested me Frederick," Steamer pulls another lever to a steam elevator, "But I will have my revenge! Villainy defies gravity!" he gets stuck, "Eventually…" but makes his escape.

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

* * *

Wasabi: I am okay!  
Sara Ferns: THANK GOD AND GLORY ARE YOU OKAY?! DID BARON HURT YOU?! IF HE DID I WILL MAKE HIM REGRET EVER POKING HIS STUPID NOSE AT THE PARTY!  
Gogo: jeez

Wasabi: I'm fine Sara! Big Hero 6 saved me

Sara Ferns: That's good : )

TheLittleMermaid: Yay! : D, did you guys run into them?

Honey Lemon: Yeah, we were by the ironworks when they rescued Wasabi!

Mikan Ferns: Hm, well I'm hopeful no supervillains crash the party coming in a few days

Fredilicous24: I think Steamer would learn his lesson from being stopped by Big Hero 6!

* * *

Fred has his Bro-Tillion rehosted, but it was at the Lucky Cat Cafe, and this time Ari got to help out with catering! She had a lot of fun at this more than the other party, for once she could dress in much comfier wear and Fred was having a good time as well! Plus the espresso machine was fixed and Cass got multiple catering jobs!  
"Now this, this sounds like a Fred party." David notes, paying attention to the party music playing in the cafe, "That and less stuffy people."  
"I know right." Ari takes a bite from a muffin, she feels someone tap her on the shoulder.

"Pardon me." she turns around, and recognizes the person who tapped her is Rachel Rosemary. Who had a striped t-shirt and brown shorts on instead of her dress.  
"Y-yes?" she squeaks, feeling intimidated by the young girl's mature stare.  
"I wanted to say it was quite brave of you to attempt to fight that Baron Von Steamer," Rachel tells her, "You have the traits of a superhero in my humble opinion."  
"Thanks?" Ari was unsure how to process the compliment, "But I'm not superhero..I don't even any cool powers that Big Hero 6 has!"  
"Sometimes, our powers can be found if we look inside ourselves." Rachel then turns to David, "Nice hairstyle."  
"Thanks!" David smirks, "My sister Sara styled it so it looks like my mother!" Ari raises an eyebrow, the formal pronunciation of mom meant that David was talking about his blood mother, not Sally.

"Hmm, well I better make sure my dad doesn't take too many muffins when mom isn't looking." Rachel waves them goodbye, "See you around the cafe sometime."

As she walks back to her parents, Ari turns to David, "That was odd."  
"Yeah, I think this means she's interested in being your friend." David notes.

"Interested?" Ari questions, "Does she have a friendship lottery?"  
"No, I don't know what goes through that girl's head, she's odd but the good kind. I think you'd be a good friend for her."  
"If you say so.." Ari spends the rest of the party chilling with Fred, happy that him and his mother had decided to stop trying to impress the snobby Binky and were just having a good time. It was the break she needed after working herself ragged in the cafe, perhaps Cass was right that she should enjoy her time as a kid. Perhaps the best way she could make it up to Hiro and his friends for their kindness was just being there as a friend.

Just as how someone was there for her, in echo of a forgotten memory just out of reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for reading, Rachel can be such a cryptic lol
> 
> Anyways I wanna talk about a point that might cross some of your minds, "how long will Heroes of Flowers be?"  
> Well I'm planning on dividing the story into 3 separate fics (I'll have to rename this one lol), "Phase 1: Ferns and Nerds", "Phase 2: Tempest of Hearts," and "Phase 3: (no name yet)", Phase 1 will be through Season 1, and Phase 2 will be during the "City of Monsters" arc.
> 
> As for Phase 3? I'm hoping to get through the rest of Season 2, but idk about Season 3..half of it will take place during the Fugitive arc, and the rest, perhaps a little bit of Season 3? But mostly will be an original arc, I've got some plans..that I gotta drop breadcrumbs for, y'all might wanna start those conspiracy walls.
> 
> I've been blabbering in the AN's a lot today, I'm just excited! Tune in next time!
> 
> Question of the Week: Which party/dance of the series is your favorite?


	12. Chapter 11: (Food Fight) Sushi Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krei eats bad sushi. And Aunt Cass and Ari go looking for Hiro when thinking he's "Bot-Fighting", the latter has no idea what that term is (yet).

It had been another successful day at Krei Tech, the CEO Alistair Krei was enjoying his dinner meal. He had gotten recommendations from several of his people, including his top mechanic Steven Ferns. He scrolled through his phone as the sushi chef prepared his meal. The chef had a slender figure, with pale skin, red lips, and sharp mint-green eyes. Her black and blue dyed hair was tied back into a bun, she was wearing a short sleeved chef uniform of the same color. She was chopping the food with precise cuts, if Krei was paying attention he would've noticed the chef's knives were a sharp thin blue color, a rather sharp type of knives normal sushi chefs wouldn't use.

As she is done preparing the meal, Krei glances from his phone to the chef, "My people tell me you're one of the better sushi chefs in town."  
"Your people underestimate me," she says, "I am the best."

"I'll be the judge of that," Krei starts pouring soy sauce into a bowl, he also pours the sauce on the sushi, the chef staring as he does this. She gives an offended gasp when he dunks the already soy covered sushi into the soy bowl.

"You do not drown the finest otoro in soy sauce!" She was disgusted at how much soy sauce he poured on the sushi she spent her time and effort making.  
"How about you don't tell me how to eat, okay?" He does not care, speaking with his mouth full of food, "You work for me right." he shoves an entire sushi into his mouth and goes back to his phone.

"Of course Krei-san," she speaks with irritation, "It's only that I hate to see you robbed,"

Krei looks up from his phone.

"Of an exquisite experience," she takes away the empty plates and puts down a fish that Krei recognizes.  
"Hold on, is that the fish that's poisonous if its not prepared properly?" he glances at the fish and the chef with worry.

"Do not doubt my skill," she tells him, "and do not worry about the fish."

Krei choose to believe her and uses the chopsticks to pick up the fish and put it in his mouth, he hums at the rich, exotic flavor.

"Mmm hmm, hmm, delicious." he turns to the chef, but he starts to realize his vision is blurry, Krei feels nauseous and dizzy, his limbs starting to go heavy. "What's happenthing?" he struggles to speak, "You sthaid-" his body goes limp on the desk, the chef walks up to him.  
"Not to worry about the fish," she smirks, "You should however worry about the special toxin I added." as he attempts to grab his phone and call for help, she grabs her knife and throws it at the phone, pinning it to the wall. "Relax you'll survive," she goes to collect her knife from the wall. "If I give you the antidote, want it?"  
Krei nods, the chef places the knife back in her knife pack, "and I want the prototype that's in your secret safe," she tells him.

"You work for me now.."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Mom is evil! Evil!  
Hiro Hamada: ?

Gogo: We had a surprise test today in her class,

TheLittleMermaid: You have surprise tests in college?

Wasabi: Yeah, the test was hard

Mikan Ferns: I heard her evil laugh when I left class..

Honey Lemon: Don't worry I'm sure you did great!  
Sara Ferns: I swear the drink on her desk is full of student tears.

* * *

Ari hummed at the group text, she turned to the fluffy haired brunette sitting next to her, "Do teachers drink student tears? I thought it was just a myth,"

"Tears are too salty to drink, they just like collecting it." Rachel replied, Ari was taking a break from helping Cass run the cafe to hang out with the regular customer. Ari herself was curious about the youngest member of the Rosemary family and wanted to try befriending her.

"Huh, I might believe that considering how much I hear Hiro whine about how hard Granville is being on him." Ari takes a sip of her milk, "That or Hiro likes to complain."  
"Hiro as in Hiro Hamada yes?" Rachel asks, Ari nods. "I remember hearing about the fire that happened at his school, it must have been horrible, losing a sibling.." her gaze was distant as if she's reflecting something, "Nice to hear from you that your friend is doing better."  
"You should thank Fred and his other friends," Ari explains, "And Baymax, all I'm doing is just being a friend."  
"Hmm," at that moment Hiro walks into the cafe.  
"Hey Aunt Cass," he grabs a donut and prepares to head upstairs, but Cass stops him.

"Hiro," Cass points to a blonde haired man reading a newspaper, "Do you know who that is?"  
"Turtleneck guy?" Hiro raises an eyebrow, he wasn't a regular customer so he didn't know, "Er, should I know who he is?"  
"It's Bolton Gramercy!" Cass explains, "He's a top celebrity chef!"  
"And a top celebrity jerk." Rachel mutters under her breath, Ari looks at her with confusion.

"He has a tendency to be rude when he visits establishments to grab a bite," she tells her, "We get it you're a picky eater, no need to damage people's self-esteem."  
"Huh, jerk." She notices how rude Gramercy is being to poor Cass, who just wanted to tell him that she was a fan, "Cass is probably a better chef than him."  
"She does make good muffins," Rachel nods, "Say I've got to get running soon, my cat Katie gets annoyed if I'm out for too long without her."  
"Your cat?" Ari raises an eyebrow, she didn't know Rachel had a pet.

"Yeah, here's a picture." Rachel shows her a picture of a cat, the odd thing about the feline was that she had bright blue fur, _probably a genetic mutation of some sorts_ Ari thought. The cat had a white belly, left paw, and tail tip, her nose was a cranberry red color and she had royal blue eyes.

"What a nice cat." Ari turns to Rachel, who's grabbing her things to get ready to go.

"You won't say that when you see her, trust me, nice chat Ariel." and Rachel leaves the cafe. Ari decides to check on poor Cass, Gramercy had already left but she wanted to see if she was doing okay.

"Hey Cass," Ari waves to her, "You doing okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm doing fine Ari, thank you for asking." Cass seems to cheer up a little when Ari checked on her, "Since all the customers have left by now I was about to close up shop."  
"Neat," Ari smiles, "Where's Hiro? I saw him talking to you earlier."  
"Oh he went upstairs, probably is getting ready for bed right now." Cass explains, she yawns. Which causes Ari to yawn as well.

"I should get ready for bed," Ari rubs her tired eyes, "I'm sleepy." As Cass is closing up the cafe, Ari goes upstairs to get ready for bed. She brushes her teeth, flosses, and puts on her pajamas, but as she's walking past Hiro's bed she doesn't see him at all.

"Hiro? You asleep?" She goes to pull the covers from the bed, and finds not Hiro, but Mochi under the covers.

"Did he get a drink of water?" she starts to worry, then decides to ask Cass downstairs.

"Hey Cass? Is Hiro downstairs?!" she yells down.

"What? Isn't he upstairs?" Cass yells back.  
"He's not in his room!" Ari explains, she hears Cass going up the stairs, she enters the bedroom to see with her own eyes that Hiro isn't there.

"Hiro.." Cass grumbles, she goes to her phone and starts to call Hiro. As she does that, Ari swears she heard Mochi huff, and sees that he has an annoyed expression on his face, as well annoyed a cat's face could be.

Hiro picks up the phone from the other end, " _Uh...hi Aunt Cass,_ " he sounded real nervous.

"Where are you? You said you were going upstairs, well Ari and I are in your room and you're not!"  
"Hey Hiro." Ari adds in, "Why do you sound so nervous?"

" _I'm not!..and when I said upstairs, I meant upstairs at the..library! It's a study group!_ " Ari swears she smelled a fib, _what are you up to Hiro?_ She hears something break on the other end.

"A study group?" Cass doesn't buy it either.

" _Yeah! We're making flash cards, quizzing each other, making healthy snacks!_ "

"What kind of snacks?" Ari narrows her eyes, she doesn't buy it one bit.

" _Oh you know, apples, oranges, all those healthy things._ " Another thing crashes on the other end.

" _Seriously, is there anything in this room she didn't cut in half._ " Was that Wasabi on the other line? Maybe it was some sort of weird study group.

"Who cut what in half!?" Cass exclaims, Ari jumps in surprise from the loudness.  
" _Gogo! So we can share those healthy snacks!_ " she could hear Hiro sweating from the other line.

" _Don't bring me into this Hiro.._ " Ari heard Gogo mutter on the other line, but then she hears another crash.  
" _Ow! Now the numbness wears off._ " An unknown male voice groans in pain.

"Hiro what's going on?!" Cass demands, she didn't buy the "study group" lie not one bit.

" _Wow almost done see you in a bit don't wait up love you bye!_ " and Hiro cuts off. Cass glares at the phone so much Ari thinks the device would explode from all the anger, she sees Cass glance at a picture on Hiro's desk, the one with smiley faced robot next to it and comes to a conclusion.  
"Bot fighting!" Cass starts stomping down the stairs, with Ari trailing behind her, "What is he thinking going to Good Luck Ally at night?!" She is about to exit the cafe then steps back in, "Wait what am I thinking?" she goes to the kitchen drawer and grabs a knife set, "I'm not going unarmed!"  
"Can I come too?" Ari asks.

"No," Cass frowns, "It's dangerous."  
"Well I'll just go anyways," Ari glares, "It's better to go with someone else at night." Cass tries to think of an excuse, but she gives up.

"Alright..fine," Cass hands Ari a knife from another drawer, "Just stick by me, okay?"  
"I promise," and they head out to rescue Hiro from whatever "Bot Fighting" is, Ari makes a note to herself to ask what that is later.

* * *

Hiro did not need any rescuing, he was at SFIT's Robotics lab, where he and the others were analyzing the clues left behind at Krei-Techs recent robbery. Him and Honey Lemon were viewing the camera footage of the sushi chef that stole half of the gravitational disruptor from Krei. While Wasabi was inspecting material that the chef left behind under a microscope.

"Woah, I've never seen a cut like this." Wasabi was in awe, "Not even my plasma blades are this precise!"  
"What is it?" Gogo asks him.  
"Graphene blades!" he holds up the graphene material, "Thinner than paper, but stronger than steel! This tech is cutting edge!" Gogo frowns at the pun, "No pun intended...okay pun intended."  
"How's it going with that camera footage Hiro?" Fred questions.  
"It's going fine, at least Krei gave us this in the first place." Hiro answers, "It'll help our search."

As they're flipping through the footage Honey Lemon gasps at certain angles, "Woah! Her knife is so thin you can't even see it from this angle!" When seeing a front view angle of the sushi chef, her knife was invisible.

"I told you it was amazing!" Wasabi exclaims.  
"And deadly." Gogo adds, "It's going to be a hassle to take her down."  
"Hey Baymax," Hiro turns to the robot, "Can you put a name on that face?"  
" _I do not have any information about that face_." Baymax states.

"That's a problem." Hiro sighs, it'll be a hassle to fight her and it'll be a hassle to track her down.

"Not to worry!" Fred tells them, "My dad has a state-of-the-art bad guy database!"  
They all give sighs of relief, "Thanks Freddie." Honey Lemon smiles.

"No problem, now let's go to my house and find that match!"

* * *

While the superheroes went to Fred's house, Ari and Cass were in Good Luck Alley. The alley was full of trash and thugs, Ari felt a sense of deja-vu as her and Cass walked down the alley with caution.

 _Wonder if I was here before losing my memory.._ Ari wondered, she knew that she wasn't a San Fransokyo native but the alley felt familiar to her for a strange reason.

"Nice place.." Cass mutters as a man gets thrown out the back of a building.

"Yeah...real homey.." Ari glances back and forth, she was scared that they'd run into Yama while looking for Hiro. While there had been no attempts to try and abduct her, Ari was afraid that he was just waiting for the opportunity. They reach a building where two men were guarding the entrance, Ari recognized one of the men as Felony Carl.

"Excuse me, is this where the fight is?" Cass questions, assuming that the building is where Hiro is.

"Yeah," Felony Carl nods, then he notices Cass is carrying a bag, "What's in the bag?" he and the other man grabs it from her.  
"Hey that's mine!" Cass tries to retrieve it back but the other man stops her, "Give it back!"  
Felony Carl looks inside the bag and sees the knife set, "Oh you're a fighter? Why didn't you say so," he hands Cass the bag, both her and Ari are confused by his statement.

"Fighter?" they both question at the same time, "I'm/she's not-"  
"Come on," Felony Carl opens the door, him and the other man pushes them inside, "Fight is this way."  
"And I'll lead your little fan to the stands." the other man starts pushing Ari in the other direction, she glances back at Cass who is being handed an apron, bandanna, and being pushed onto a platform.  
"Little?" Ari stares at the man, "I'm not that small!" _Is this one of those food wars like Chopped? I feel so bad for Cass right now._

The man opens a door to reveal an underground arena, Ari sees the platform had brought Cass into the center, the people in the audience started cheering and clapping, "Enjoy the fight." he closes the door behind her, leaving a confused Ari. She sees a man doused in red from his kimono to his hair walks up to Cass, a microphone in his hand.

"Welcome fighter!" He exclaims, "I am Yum Labouche, ringmaster of this underground extreme cooking competition!" Kitchen counters appear from opposite ends of the arena, "The time has come to cook for your life! The time has come for..Food Fight!"

Fires appear from the sides of the area, the audience roars with excitement.

"Oh she is dead.." Ari sighs, "And I have front row seats."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's favorite sushi chef has appeared! Though not name dropped (yet)
> 
> Also you guys will be seeing Katie (Rachel's cat) in person, (eventually). Just had to name-drop her, she's a beloved OC of mine
> 
> Make sure you add "Follow Aunt Cass to dangerous alley" on "list of Ari's dumb choices" bc people say she's reckless..for some reason
> 
> enjoy this week's chapter and you may or may not get an extra slice before next week's : )


	13. Chapter 12: (Food Fight) Secret Ingredient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Hero 6 learn about the sushi chief's name: Momakase  
> Cass wins a food fight

"Psst," Ari whipped around and saw the Fern kids sitting in the nearby stands, Sara gestures for her to come over, as she takes a seat next to David, Mikan starts to question her.

"Ariel what on earth are you and Aunt Cass doing here?" there's a flash of concern in her eyes, "Good Luck Alley no place for a sweetheart like you."  
"This is all Cass's fault," Ari tilts her head back from the glare Mikan is giving. "Why are you guys here?!"  
"I like this competition," David answers, "I enjoy hearing the competitors cook, smells nice too."

"I don't buy it."  
"David should I explain to Ari why we're really here?" Sara asks him, he nods.

"Only a little bit, like a watered down explanation." David gestures a small amount with his fingers, "I mean I already told her a little bit about my blood mother so you're good."  
"What?" Ari raises an eyebrow.  
Sara takes a deep breath, "The real reason we're here is because David's blood mother is one of the fighters here, Mika and I tag along so David isn't attacked by any enemies of his mom."  
"Ohh…" Ari realized, "Is she competing tonight?" _I hope Cass doesn't have to fight her._

"No," Mikan shook her head, "We're just watching some of the rookies get destroyed," Ari glares at Mikan for implying Cass was a rookie, "But uh I'm sure Aunt Cass is gonna win."  
"I still don't get why you guys call her Aunt Cass," Ari rolls her eyes, bringing her attention back to the arena.  
"She lets all of us call her that, it's only a matter of time before you start to as well Ariel." Mikan tells her, "It's inevitable."  
"Yeah yeah whatever."

* * *

"Who are you and do you have what it takes to vanquish your enemy?" Yum points the microphone to Cass.  
She looked nervous in the spotlight, "Well Yum, I'm Cass, hi everyone." she gives a wave as a flame with her face appears next to her, "And we're just cooking right?"

Everyone in the audience laughs, including Mikan who just cackles at her obliviousness "Just cooking, Ha!" Sara punches her in the shoulder, "Ow!" they both glare at each other.

"This is no ordinary cooking competition, cheating is not only allowed? Ha! It's encouraged!" Yum explains to Cass, "Are you prepared to cook dirty?"  
"That does not sound sanitary at all," Cass replies.  
"Spoke like someone who's about to lose!" he then points to the other end of the arena, "And now, your opponent, a man who needs no introductions," the podium brings up a familiar turtleneck wearing blonde haired man with a red bandanna on his head, "Bolton Gramercy!"  
The crowd cheers as Ari goes, "What?"

"Bolton Gramercy?" Cass has a similar reaction, her jaw drops in shock.

Gramercy recognises Cass and frowns, "Wait, you're that little bird from the cafe today," he turns to Yum, "Is this a joke?"  
"Umm.." Cass stammers, "I didn't actually mean to enter, I'm just here to look for my nephew so I'm just gonna.." she gestures to the back exit door, "Y'know.."  
"Give up, good move, leave the cooking to the real chefs," Yum places a hand to his mouth, surprised at what Gramercy said, the audience chuckles at the taunt.

Cass glares, she puts the yellow bandanna she was given on, "Oh..we'll see who's the real chef, you're about to get stir fried!"

"Ooooh," Sara and Mikan are on the edge of their seats.  
"Yeah! Tell that smug chef who's the real cook!" Ari cheers.

"Feisty," Yum smirks, "Time to cook!" both chefs head to the kitchen counters on the opposite sides of the arena, the crowd cheers as the competition is about to begin.

"I have faith in Cass, she's gonna win." Ari gives her two thumbs up.  
"Gramercy is a real good cook, I'm not sure." Mikan frowns.

"Wow Mika, wow, have faith in her!" David shakes his head, "You got this Cass!"

Both chefs place their knife sets on the counter, "Tonight's challenge, the perfect creme brulee!" Yum announces.  
"Oh, I can do that!" Cass exclaims, she does make most of the pastries in the Lucky Cat after all.

"But!" Yum points to the ingredients table, which reveals a..unique selection of ingredients, "You must use gummy iguanas, cilantro, and an ostrich egg."

"Whaa?" Cass is puzzled.  
"Fred would not like this creme brulee," Ari notes, whispering to David she added, "He hates cilantro."  
"Let the food fight, begin!" Yum points to the 30 minute timer, which then sets off.

And thus began the most exciting half-hour cooking contest Ari has ever watched.

* * *

"You said it was state-of-the-art Fred,"

"Well it was in 1972, Wasabi!"

Back at Fred's house the "state-of-the-art" database was just an old machine.

"Don't worry guys, my dad keeps the data totally up to date!" he points it.

"Punch cards," Gogo and Hiro were by the boxes of punchards, she had one in her hand as she turned to Fred, "Really?"

"Yes hello," Fred walks up to her, "But look! They're up-to-date punch cards!"  
"Okay then," Hiro picks up one of the cards, "Let's get started!"  
"Woah! Woah, woah woah!" Fred swipes the card from Hiro and walks to the machine, "First, we have to let the tubes warm up," he flips a switch on the database which also causes the lights in his house to dim.

"Is this going to take awhile?" Hiro questions, raising an eyebrow, he wanted to get home so Aunt Cass didn't start stress eating in the cafe wondering where he was.

"It usually takes five to ten minutes," Fred answers, he places the punch card in his pocket with care, "While we wait I wanted to bring up this, that sushi chef lady looked a little familiar, does she remind you of anyone or is it just me?"  
"I've never seen her before in my life but she kind of reminds me of someone," now that Hiro thought about it, "I just don't know who.."  
"Probably just a coincidence," Gogo shrugs it off.

"Might just be your imagination guys," Wasabi also shrugs it off.

"You might be right," Hiro sighs, after a few minutes, the tubes were warmed up.

"Guess what guys, it's punch card time!" Fred lists the punch card from his pocket and into the air, the other sitting down by the rest of the punch cards and walking. Fred blows the dust off the punch card and puts it into the machine, "This one isn't a match, onto the next one!"

And the next one, and the next one, and the next…To the point everyone but Fred fell asleep, except Baymax who had Wasabi and Honey Lemon using him as a pillow.

The tubes on the database lit up, "And just like that, we have a match!" Fred exclaims, all of his friends yawn and start to wake up.

"Finally," Gogo rubs her eyes, Wasabi notices that Honey Lemon was drooling on him and yelps.

"I believe that's yours," he points to the slobber on his shoulder, Honey Lemon lifts herself up.  
"Sorry Wasabi," she wipes her mouth.

Fred takes the paper the database produced and reads it aloud, "Okay so the sushi chef's name is Momakase, she's the best thief and sushi chef in San Fransokyo, considered extremely dangerous," he shows them picture, which has Momakase in a mercenary outfit.

"So she's definitely coming back for the rest of the-," Hiro yawns, "Gravity disruptor,"

Baymax brings up a clock, " _Hiro, you are scheduled to wake up in five hours, you will not the recommended level of_ -"

"Oh no, I didn't realize it was so late," Hiro starts to drag Baymax away, "I've gotta go, Aunt Cass is gonna kill me!" He rushes out of the Boss Awesome superhero lair.

"I keep forgetting Hiro doesn't live in a dorm or apartment like the rest of us," Honey Lemon notes, "It's gotta be hard keeping his superhero identity from Aunt Cass."  
"And Ari too now that she lives at their house," Wasabi adds, "Though I'll admit it's a lot easier keeping it a secret around her."  
"Like I said, people see what they want to see," Fred goes back to looking at the information the database brought up on Momakase. He'd have to do more research later, they had to worry about keeping the rest of the gravity disruptor safe, good thing he found where the secret safe was so they'd know where to guard.

* * *

Elsewhere, the cooking competition between Cass and Bolton Gramercy was going like a roaring fire. As both chefs went to grab their ingredients, Gramercy knocked one of the ostrich eggs out of Cass's hands, then grabbed two. Cass huffed as she picked up the remaining egg, both chefs gave each other looks as they poured the egg into the bowl. The staring contest continued as they mixed the bowl and cut the cilantro, as they made the creme brulee Gramercy tried to sabotage Cass by throwing the other ostrich egg at her. However the fire extinguisher burned his dish and he had no time to fix it as there was half a minute left. Both chefs rushed their dishes to the judges and watched them eat their respective foods, then discuss in hushed whispers among themselves who would be the winners.

"Cass has got this in the bag," Ari tells David, he doesn't make any response. Right next to them, Sara's phone beeps as she reads a message from her phone.  
"Oh we gotta go," Sara and her siblings get up from their seats.  
"Where are you going?" Ari narrows her eyes.  
"No time to tell you gotta run!" Mikan grabs both Sara and David then runs to the exit.  
"At least wait for the match to be over!" she calls after them, then turns her attention back as Yum announces the winner.

"Tonight's chef supreme is…" he lifts the arm of the person on the right side of him, "Cass!" the crowd cheers.

"She won without cheating," Ari heard Felony Carl speak to his bodyguard friend from behind her, "I didn't think that was within the realm of possibility."

"Present your knives to the victor," Yum gestures to Gramercy, "You hack!"  
Gramercy hesitates, "But..these knives were a gift from my Nana.."  
"To the victor.."  
"Throw the knives!" the audience screams, Ari hums, _So that's the prize? Ehh no wonder Mikan and the others left early._ Gramercy kneels, presenting the knives to Cass.  
"Oh..no that's not really necessary," Cass tells Yum.

"I don't make the rules, I just enforce them, take the knives." Yum glares, Cass gives up and takes the knives from Gramercy.

"Sorry about this," Cass apologizes as she takes the knives from Gramercy.  
"Cass! Cass! Cass!" the audience cheers, Cass smiles at the applause, as the spotlight is shining on her and her only.

"Oh god she's going to compete again I just know it.." Ari groans, even from here she could see the excitement in Cass's eyes.

* * *

Above the cooking competition, is Yama, he enters a room where Momakase is sharpening her graphene blades.

"Do you have the gravitational disruptor?" Yama questioned.

"I have acquired it," Momakase opens the briefcase, containing what she stole from Alistair Krei, Yama looks at the device, then back at the blueprints he has of the device.  
"This is only half of the device! You expect me to pay you for stealing only half!?" He demands.

"You hired me to get the device in Krei's safe, this is what was in his safe." She smirks, "So, yes, I expect my payment."  
"This is useless to me without the other half!" Yama clenches the blueprint in his hand, glaring at Momakase, he didn't pay her a fortune just to get one _half_ of a device.

"Then I guess you need to hire me to steal the other half." Momakase holds her graphene knife on the table, the tip of the knife grazing the wood.

Yama growls, "Fine..when you have the whole device, let me know." he stomps out of the room.

Momakase smirks when he leaves, "I will, maybe I'll let some other buyers know as well," she grins with glee at the prospect of a much higher earnings than the cut Yama gave her.

A knock on her door interrupts her thoughts, she recognized who'd knock that light, "You can come in children." She speaks loud enough for the people on the other side to hear.

The door opens with three pairs of eyes staring back at her, a big smile on the face of the yellow-eyed one.

* * *

As Cass and Ari return to the Lucky Cat Cafe, Ari sees the gleam in Cass's eyes.

"So, Ari." Cass asks her, "Did you think that was fun?"  
"A bit.." Ari mumbles, "Not gonna go back, but I ran into the Fern kids."  
"Really?" Cass raises an eyebrow, "David, Sara, and Mikan?"  
"Yep," Ari nods, "Sara knew you were gonna win the whole time."

Cass hums, "At least I have two fans." As they enter the cafe they run into Hiro, who looks surprised to run into them.

"Oh, Hiro!" Cass is surprised as well, "Hi.."

"Hi.." Hiro waves, then his eyes widen, "Wait you two were out?!"  
"Ummm, yes? Doesn't seem like a big deal," Cass shrugs it off, Ari rolls her eyes.

"Do you guys have any idea what time it is?!" he exclaims, "You scared me half to death!"  
"Sorry Hiro." Ari frowns, however she didn't feel too bad, he was late out due to his "study group" thing.  
Baymax scans him, " _You are in good physical condition, your approximation of a fifty percent proximity to death is inaccurate._ "

"Yeah, so don't be so dramatic, alright?" Cass starts to walk away, but Hiro isn't done with the conversation.  
"You didn't even leave a note! Where were you!? And why do you smell like gummy fish?!"

"I don't, I smell like gummy iguanas, now it's late so I am going to bed."

"No! We're going to talk now!"  
Ari sees Mochi glance back and forth between the bickering, she didn't need to be a mind reader to know he had seen this sort of banter before.

Cass sighed, "Fine, tell me all about your robot-building study group."

Hiro is the one that tries to end the conversation this time, he yawns then looks at the clock. "You know it's pretty late, let's pick this up tomorrow."

"Works for me, night guys." Cass and Hiro begin to head upstairs.  
" _Shall I set an alarm for 'picking this up tomorrow?_ '" Baymax asks them.  
"No." Both Cass and Hiro reply.

Ari chuckles to herself, then picks up Mochi, "Does this happen a lot pal?" Mochi meows, she smiles, but then frowns, placing a hand to her head.

" _Are you alright?_ " Baymax asks her.

"Yeah, fine pal, just..remembering something." Ari mumbles, flashes of something smelling sweet, a smile, and bright lights clouded her head, "Really vague too..I think it was a birthday party."

" _Can you recall what the birthday party was for?_ " Baymax tilts his head, Ari shakes her head at the robot.  
"No, no I can't." Ari sighs, "But I know that it wasn't for me, but I was still happy..at least I got something," she yawns, "I'll remember more stuff in the morning."

* * *

Ari got out of bed when Hiro had left for school, she was exhausted after yesterday's events. After several minutes just lying in bed awake, Ari got up, yawned, got dressed and went downstairs to the cafe. She saw Cass was using the knives she won from Gramercy to prepare the food for today.

"Hey Cass?" she looks up, "Are you going again to that er.." Ari lowers her voice so the other customers won't hear, "Food Fight?"

"Why? It's not a bad thing?" Cass raises an eyebrow.  
"No it's just, don't bring me along next time," Ari yawned, "I don't want to hang around Good Lucky Alley..I'm scared of Yama," she clamps her mouth, Ari didn't mean to say that last line, her eyes widened.

"Yama?" Cass frowns, "You mean that bot fighter guy? Why are you afraid of him?"

Ari is sweating into a puddle, she and Hiro never told Cass that Yama kidnapped her, less Cass connect the dots that Hiro only found out because he was kidnapped as well.  
"It's a..long story.." Ari mumbles, glancing away from Cass's narrowed stare.

"Don't tell me you're an ex-bot fighter as well!" Cass frowned, putting her hands on her hips.  
"Wait? No! I don't even know what 'bot fighting' is!" Ari gestures with finger quotes, "I just don't want to get snatched up by Yama!" again Ari shuts her mouth, why was she so slippery with secrets today?!

Cass drops the kitchen knife in shock, "Ari that's awful," she pulls the girl into a hug. "Sweetie, you don't have to go with me back to that food fight then..was that what happened before Hiro found you?" Ari nods, she just hugs Cass back.

"Th-thanks Aunt Cass." Ari sniffles, at a later moment she'd realize the third slip she made, but Cass didn't react at all.  
"You're very welcome," Cass smiles, they end the hug, "Now you should go get some rest if you're so tired, I can run the cafe by myself today."  
"Okay," Ari yawns, then heads upstairs, when she's out of sight Cass continues preparing food with the knives.  
"Hmm, I wonder if I can get a better pair than these tonight.." she hums.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Dudes...I ate SO much sushi last night I felt like one when I woke up

TheLittleMermaid: lol

Wasabi: Why sushi?

Mikan Ferns: Because it was for dinner?

TheLittleMermaid: Weren't you guys out super late last night? I thought it would be too late for dinner!  
Sara Ferns: "We had a late dinner stop asking questions" -David

TheLittleMermaid: *Squinty eyes*

Mikan Ferns: *Squinty eyes back*

Gogo: Can you not

Fredilicous24: Methinks something suspicious is afoot Fern kids

Sara Ferns: "Just your imagination" -David

* * *

Later at night, the sushi chef by day turned mercenary at night, Momakase. Her black and blue dyed hair no longer tied down by a bun spikes up. Instead of a chef outfit she is wearing a black and blue outfit making her look like a ninja, a blue mask was over her eyes. She stares down at the city upon the roofs, she leaps to another rooftop. When she gets to the edge of a rooftop close to Krei Tech, she tosses one of her knives that has a line sticking to it at the building, it sticks to the side. Momakase uses two other knives to zipline over, when she reaches the other side, she cuts a perfect circle into the window, and steps into the pitch-black room.

Then, the lights go on, "Hey there," it's Hiro, Baymax, and Wasabi who turned on the lights, the three of them surrounding the mercenary, "Looking for something?"

Momakase smirks, "Well, this is cute." she turns to face Wasabi, "You really think you can stop me?"  
"Yes, and we will!" Wasabi charges at her, he throws a punch but she dodges, leaping overhead and kicking him to the side. She then throws several of her knives at him, Wasabi yelps, managing to dodge by a hair.

" _Knives can be dangerous, especially when thrown_." Baymax states.

"Aww, see? He gets me." Momakase launches at Baymax, slashing his right arm and left left with her graphene katana.

" _Oh no.._ " Baymax's armor falls clean off, knocking him off his balance as he falls. As Momakase points her katana at him, it's pulled right out of her hands.  
"Huh?" she sees Hiro using his glove magnet to pull the katana, "What?" she exclaims as Hiro manages to pull it from her hands and into his.

Hiro smirks as he's stolen her weapon, but she pulls out a knife, "Uh oh.." Momakase charges at him, knocking the katana out of his grasp, he yelps as Hiro leaps under Krei's table for cover. As Momakase swipes he manages to duck out of the way, "Ha! Missed!"  
"Did I?" she grins, a piece of Hiro's helmet falls off.

"Lady, you're going down!" Wasabi summons his plasma blades, Momakase swipes her knife at him, blade against blade as Wasabi is back into a corner.

"So the knives..graphene right? You can tell me, it's kind of my thing." He asks as Momakase has him up against the wall.

"Yes, want a closer look?" She holds the knife at an angle that makes it look invisible, Wasabi gives a nervous chuckle as she breaks his plasma blades.

"Ha, you boys lasted three seconds longer than I would've thought, impressive." She tosses a smoke bomb on the ground, when it clears, Krei's secret safe has been opened.

"Oh great." Hiro groans, "Now she can mess with gravity!"  
"Yeah that's not good." Wasabi shakes his head.

"We've got to get it back before someone gets hurt!" Hiro points to the secret safe.

"But also, that was so cool amiright?" Wasabi grins as he managed to get a close look at her graphene knives, as he says this, the entire desk the safe was on breaks, courtesy of Momakase's signature robbery sign.

"Why..just..why," Hiro facepalms, the sooner they got the device back the better.

He hoped Aunt Cass wasn't questioning why his "study group" was so late, who knows what would happen if she was by herself in the cafe for too long?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such a tasty, but making-me-hungry chapter!
> 
> And the Fern kids make a cameo! Hmm...I wonder who texted Sara? : )
> 
> Stay turned for Saturday for the thrilling conclusion for "Food Fight" and if Big Hero 6 will get the grav device back!
> 
> Of course they will XD..but what'll happen next?


	14. Chapter 13: (Food Fight) Family Recipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro, Baymax, and Ari follow Aunt Cass to the Food Fights. Meanwhile the Fern Kids get some sushi from a...questionable source

The food fight competition was starting to get addictive. Every night after closing the cafe, Cass would take a shiny set of knives and head to Good Luck Alley, true to her word she did not make Ari tag along. The young girl promised not to tell Hiro but she wished her good luck every night, it was nice to have at least one fan.

Every night, Cass would cook, and she'd cook hard. Cutting up vegetables, adding condiments, wrestling an octopus, she won that challenge with ease. Every set of knives she won was another tool to bring further victory. Of course there was the cheating rule, but true to her word Cass wouldn't cheat, she'd rather focus on making her meal taste better than waste the effort attempting to sabotage the other person. When another competitor tried throwing oranges at her she batted them back with ease using frying pans, it was another easy victory during that fight.

One occasion was tricky for Cass, she had to cook blindfolded, however it went better than she expected. The cake she made brought her sweet victory, and she even decorated the frosting to look like Yum Labouche, the ringleader himself.

Cass swore she saw him taking a slice after the match, but she was too busy relishing in the cheer of the audience.

"Cass! Cass! Cass Cass!" She lifted her earned knives into the air, nothing could stop her now!

* * *

"Not again.." Hiro sighed, it was another morning where the cafe was late, he knew this because all the customers were waiting outside the window! Whenever this happened Ari was the one who tended to open up the cafe, but sometimes she couldn't wake up early enough.

When Hiro and Baymax entered Aunt Cass' room, she was fast asleep, Baymax opened the blinds, " _Good morning, Aunt Cass._ "

Aunt Cass yawned, getting up and rubbing one eye, "What time is it?"  
"It's 8:45, the cafe should be open by now, who are you and what have you done with my Aunt Cass?" Hiro demanded, it's been going on for too many days!

"Oh relax," Aunt Cass brushes it off, something she never used to do, "they can wait a few extra minutes for their coffee."

"What's going on? You're supposed to be the responsible one! Even Ari's been starting to wake up early to open up the cafe because you didn't! It's been taking a toll on her!" As Hiro scolds his aunt for her behavior, Baymax pets Mochi who was curled up on a pillow.  
"There's nothing wrong with going out once in awhile to cut loose, and Ari'll be fine."

"Cut loose? And you don't go out once in awhile you've been going out every night! Where are you going? And is it the same place you and Ari went as well?!"  
"Uh, it's just the movies! Gotta go to work!" Aunt Cass rushes out of the room before Hiro can question her further.

"She has no idea what it's like to deal with someone who's obviously lying to you," Hiro huffs in frustration, behind him Mochi's fur frizzles due to rubbing against Baymax's vinyl.

* * *

Later in the morning, Ari woke up and started helping Cass with the customers.  
"Cass I-" Ari yawned, she had been waking up early for the past few days to open up the cafe and it's been taking a toll on her, "I think the uh..late trips need to stop soon."  
"Whaat?" Cass tilts her head to face Ari with surprise, "What makes you say that?"  
"Well one, it's not healthy for our sleep schedules," Ari yawns, "After you leave I can't sleep, I stay up worrying you're gonna get jumped by an angry competitor-who let the competition b.y.o.b, bring your own blades?!" she nearly drops a plate she was cleaning in exclamation.

"Oh I'll just go a few more times then I'll be done, no harm done." Cass shakes her head.

"No-no harm done?!" Ari huffs, "And you thought Hiro 'bot fighting' was bad." She brings up finger quotes to make her point.  
"Well that is bad, it's illegal, and why are you making finger quotes?" Cass raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know what bot fighting is-wait it's illegal?" Ari's eyes widened, "Why is it illegal?"

"No time to answer gotta run the cafe!" and Cass rushes off to help serve another customer, Ari sighs.

"Why does nobody ever tell me these things," she huffed, "I feel so out of the loop."

 _And I always feel like I'm missing some parts of the story,_ Ari thought about that time the Baron Von Steamer guy kidnapped poor Wasabi, how the others told her to man the spotlight and members of Big Hero 6 showed up several minutes after they left. A part of her wanted to find out for more details, but she refused. _I don't even know if Ariel is even my actual name! No time for me to go poking my nose into someone else's business.._ She goes back to washing the dishes, _though if Hiro decides to follow Aun...Cass! To see what she's doing, I'll follow 'cause this is driving me up a wall!_

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Guess who's getting sushi from the best chef in town, these kids!

TheLittleMermaid: Who?

Sara Ferns: "The man on the moon" -David

Honey Lemon: David that was kind of mean,

Sara Ferns: "Chef wants to remain anonymous" -David

Mikan Ferns: I am not paid enough for this XP

Hiro Hamada: Wait you're paying?

Mikan Ferns: Yeah! This chef isn't cheap and I make a lot of money!  
Wasabi: You have a job?

Mikan Ferns: Yes

TheLittleMermaid: How do you make so much money Mikan?

Mikan Ferns: Trade secret! Not important!

* * *

When nighttime arose, Cass took a good set of knives and exited the cafe. Ari saw Hiro and Baymax start to follow after she left.  
"Hey guys?" she whispered, "Can I join you guys? I don't want to wait by myself in the cafe all night with worry.."

"Sure," Hiro whispered back, and so the three of them followed Cass through the city. They follow her until she ducks under an alley, one that they know too well.

"What is she doing in Good Luck Alley?" Hiro turns to face Ari, "this place is dangerous."  
"It's something you have to see for yourself," Ari tells him, "it's complicated." As they follow Cass, they hide behind one of the alley crates, Hiro sees his aunt go towards a building that Felony Carl and his friend are guarding.

"What?" Hiro gasps as the guards let Cass in, he runs over and stops the door before it closes. He sees as his aunt puts on a chef apron and is lifted up to the stage, "What is going on?!" he was so confused.  
"That was my reaction too," Ari murmured, "I wonder if the Fern kids are here tonight."

* * *

The Fern kids were indeed here, but they were not in the audience seats, nor was one of them attempting to compete. No, they were enjoying sushi prepared none other than-  
"Momakase you've outdone yourself yet again," Mikan was eating the food with chopsticks.  
"Yeah this is really good." Sara nods, she nudges David, "right bro?"  
David didn't give a verbal response, he was too busy enjoying the food.  
"Thank you, I only use the freshest of ingredients." Momakase smirks, but it's a warmer smile than her evil grins.

At that moment Yama bursts through the door, "I assume you got the device? The whole thing this time."

"Was it ever in doubt?" Momakase points to the now completed device on her desk, "One Anti-Grav device with a 70 meter range radius."

"70 range?" Sara whispers to Mikan, who frowns.

"Fine, I will pay you double." Yama goes to collect the device but Momakase pulls it off the desk.  
"Actually, things have changed." she narrows her eyes, "I'm selling it on the black market to the highest bidder," she seals the device in a metal case.

"Why you-" Yama attempts to charge at the chef, but she tosses one of her special poisoned fish into his mouth, "What?!" he starts to drop on the floor with dizziness.  
"Delicious, isn't it? The toxin gives it a real kick," she turns to some of her minions. "Take him home and give him the antidote, eventually."

Momakase tosses one of the antidote bottles to her minions as they drag Yama away.

"That was mean," David says to Momakase after the minions have left the room.  
"It's called a hustle, dear." she replies, going back to cutting up food.  
"Pretty sure it's about the money," Sara points out, turning to Mikan she whispers, "you have enough money for payment right? I don't think David is enough of a discount."  
"I heard that," David grumbled, "speaking of money, Mika you should be more careful next time you go betting."

"Why?" Mikan raised an eyebrow, "And don't spill my money making secrets over to Momakase!"  
"Frankly I don't care about your bot-fighting activities," Momakase replies, "It's below me." She continues to prepare food without looking at the kids.  
"Wow, rude." Mikan huffs.  
"David has a point Mika," Sara nods, "Yama might take his anger out on losing the grav device on you, you do hang around the bot-fighting ring a lot."  
"And you two seem to forget that my father has Yama wrapped around his finger," Mikan gestures, "If he touches a hair on his head my dad will finish the job after he failed on getting him that device he wanted."  
"How do you make so much money betting on bot-fights?" David questions.

"Simple, my sister does the fighting, and I do the betting, it's a win-win to quick cash." Mikan smirks, taking another bite of her food.

"Just..be careful," David frowns, "Good Luck Alley is a dangerous place."  
"Which is why we come with you when we visit your mom." Sara grips David's hand, "You're my brother, as much as I wish you and Mika wouldn't hang around bad alleys, I'm going to do the best I can to keep you safe."  
"Awww Sara you're melting my heart!" Mikan drops to the ground in a dramatic manner, "You're killing me!"  
"Knock it off Mika.." The cheering of the food fight winner interrupts the conversation, Momakase looks down the window to see the arena down below, "Who's that down there?"

"New fighter, undefeated." one of her minions explains.  
"Not..for..long," Momakase grins, then turns to the Fern kids. "Do you children have any information you'd like to share on this fighter?"  
"Is it Cass?" Mikan goes to the window to confirm, "Yep it's Cass, the softy that hasn't lifted a finger to cheat yet, somehow she wins."  
"I think her dedication to her meal instead of cheating makes her win," Sara points out, "A lot of the time fighters spend the entire round trying to trip her up, they forget to work on their meal!"

"I like hearing Cass in the arena, her nephew goes to our school, she runs the Lucky Cat Cafe," David smiles, "Though you're going to win."  
"And I will, and take her knives," Momakase declares to them."Best to get some front seats for the show children."

* * *

Back down at the arena, Hiro, Ari, and Baymax are by the seats, " _I detect Aunt Cass in the spotlight._ " Baymax points to the arena.

"Hey, Aunt Cass!" Hiro calls his aunt and runs towards the edge of the seating, "Aunt Cass!"  
"Hiro!" Cass exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" She walks to him.

"What are you doing here?" Hiro questions, "Is that you've been doing these past few nights?"  
"Yeah," Cass places a hand to the side of the arena wall, "I'm winning." both of their attention goes to Yum as he announces Cass' next opponent.

"And now, back in the ring to defend her title," the spotlights move around and stop at the podium, "You know her as reigning champion...Momakase!" and the sushi chef appears on stage.  
"Momakase," Hiro gasps.

"Oh you've heard of her?" Ari raises an eyebrow, "I heard from Mikan that's she's good."  
"Me too," Cass nodded, "well I didn't hear from Mikan but I heard she's good."

"No!" Hiro exclaims, fearing for his aunt's safety if she goes against the sushi chef/mercenary, "Sh-she's bad, really bad! You've gotta get out of here!"  
"Oh I will Hiro, just as soon as I crush her and take her knives!" She walks over to the arena.

"No wait! You don't want to get near her knives!" Hiro tries to call her back, but Felony Carl and his bodyguard friend grab him and Baymax.  
"Hey, it's inappropriate to mess with the fighters," Felony Carl and his bodyguard friend shove Hiro and Baymax out of the room.

They kick Hiro outside the front door, " _Oh no,_ " they throw Baymax and the robot lands on top of him. Hiro crawls out from under the robot and pulls out his phone.

"Gogo, I found Momakase, and you are not going to believe this.."

* * *

"Hmm, let me guess," Momakase stared down at Cass, "a cook at some nothing cafe, you probably put cute animal faces in your cappuccino foam."  
"You wish you could make a panda-ccino like mine!" Cass retorts back.

"Tonight's championship challenge is.." Yum points to the ingredient table, "speed sushi!"  
"Ooooh," the audience was in awe as it's a specialty of Momakase's. They were interested in how the fight was going to go.

"Sharpen your knife skills chefs, this could get dangerous!" as Cass runs to the ingredient table, Momakase throws one of her knives on the ground and it trips up Cass.  
"Oof!" she trips onto the ground as Momakase runs past her, "Okay fine..you are going down," she gets back up.

"Get her Cass!" Ari yells from the audience, she's sitting right next to the Fern kids, David jabs her on the shoulder.  
"Her victory streak is gonna end here!" David is rooting for Momakase, much to Ari's dismay.

"In your dreams! Cass will win!"

* * *

"Woah, I never knew cooking could be so tense, I'm never looking at a sandwich the same way." Fred exclaims, he and the rest of his friends are in their superhero suits and near the back door. The audience was so focused on the food fight that they didn't notice Big Hero 6 behind them.

"Baymax, scan the building for the gravity thing." Hiro commands Baymax.  
He scans the building, and points to the room above the arena, " _Gravity disruptor located._ "

"Let's go," and the team heads towards the room with Hiro leading the charge.

Back at the cooking competition, Momakase was doing everything in her efforts to trip up Cass. When they both were cutting fish, she sliced Cass's knife, but it only helped her cut the fish with preciseness. She grabbed an avocado off the ingredient table Cass tried to take, and threw it overhead. Cass bolted to catch it, leaping off a kitchen counter, landing in the audience seats and caught it.

In one of her attempts, Momakase tried firing squid ink at Cass, but she blocked it with a bowl, and used the ink as decorations for her sushi instead. Momakase glared, growling at her competitor.

* * *

Above the arena, Baymax opened the door to Momakase's room with force, " _It is in this room._ "

"Nice," Hiro skids in, "This is going to be easier than I thought." but then he and his friends notice the minions guarding the room.

"Oh…" Honey Lemon widens her eyes, "Hi.." then Gogo bumps past them and punches a minion in the face, knocking him into the window.

* * *

"You are not as good as you think you are."  
"Just have to be better than you."

Both Cass and Momakase were finishing up their sushi, "Huh, we'll see about that." the latter narrows her eyes at Cass. She notices the fight going on upstairs, "What?" she places her sushi on the judges table, then before Cass can bring hers to the table she tosses a knife, cutting a rope and a net lands on top of Cass.

The audience gasps, "Oh, this looks bad for Cass," Yum reports, "She needs to get her dish to the judges before time runs out to quality."  
"I'll be back to collect your knives." Momakase says to Cass as she exits the arena.  
"Why is there even a net in here?!" Cass struggles to break free.

"Hey that's cheating!" Ari points out from the audience.  
"It's encouraged," David explains, "Knew Cass couldn't beat Momakase, she's the best."  
"Yeah the best cheater!" Ari argues, "because she's too much of a coward to cook normally!"  
"Why you little-" David attempts to charge at Ari but Mikan and Sara hold him down, "let me at her! Let me at her! How dare you say that about m-"

"David cool your jets!"

* * *

Gogo skids around the room, as they finished knocking out the minions. Wasabi uses his plasma blade to cut open the metal case the gravity device was in, "They're no graphene blades, but they do the trick just fine." the door slides open, all of them turn around to see Momakase behind them.

"That..is mine!" she growls.

"Really?" Gogo raises an eyebrow, "cause you stole it!"  
"Yeah so you shouldn't really be that offended." Fred adds in, "y'know..it's not yours and all."  
Momakase throws her knives at Gogo, she ducks out of the way but they hit Fred instead, she turns to face her friend worried that he got injured.

He flips open his suit's helm, "I'm okay!" he exclaims, the knives only pinned his suit to the wall.

Momakase smirks, Wasabi clutches the gravity device in fear. The chef jumps on top of Baymax and throws a set of knives at Hiro, he uses his magnets to bend them out of the way but they hit the other arm of Fred's suit.

Honey Lemon tries to throw a chem ball at Momakase, but she throws a knife at the ball, causing the goop to trap Honey Lemon instead, "Ah! Wasabi watch out!'' She warns him as Momakase goes for him next.

The two blade wielders fight, but Momakase kicks the gravity device out of Wasabi's arm, accidentally activating it, everything turns blue and begins to float, including the poisoned fish on Momakase's desk.

"It really works," Wasabi exclaims, "It really works!"

"Woah cool.." Fred is in awe, "Hey I'm free!" the gravity device also lifts up the knives pinning him down, so he's able to unstick himself from the wall, then sees Momakase going for one of his friends, "Baymax look out-"

* * *

"Ten, nine, eight, seven-" the audience downstairs counts down the time left, and Cass is still stuck in the net.

"I guess you can't win them all." she huffs, but the gravity device reaches downstairs, causing her and the audience to float. "I take it back!" she scoops up her dish with two plates and flies towards the judges, "You can win them all!" her dish reaches the table just as the time runs out.

"She did it!" Yum exclaims, "It's all over now except for the judging, and the floating!" the judges continue to sample the two chefs dishes despite everyone floating in the arena. The judges turn around and notice Momakase is fighting the red member of Big Hero 6 upstairs.

Yum lifts up Cass' hand, "I won?" she questions, "Oh I won!"  
"No!" Momakase screeches, she stops fighting Big Hero 6 and goes to attack Cass.  
"What?!" David exclaims, then hears both chefs fighting, "Wait stop!"

"Huh?" Ari raises an eyebrow at David's weird behavior, surprised he reacted to that than everyone mysteriously floating?!  
"Nope! Not doing this!" Mikan grabs David and floats away, as much as David tries to struggle, he can't get out of Mikan's grip.

"Mika let me go!" he exclaims, "thats-"  
"I know but now is not the time!" she yells back, "Big Hero 6 is here and you know what that means!" and the Fern kids fly out of the arena, leaving a puzzled Ari.

"What on earth is going on?" She is trying to process what just happened.

"Aunt Cass!" Hiro exclaims as Momakase attacks his aunt, he then sees the gravity device, and gets an idea. Meanwhile Momakase leaps from a wooden beam, roaring in anger as she launches herself at Cass, who sees the net next to her.  
"Everyone hold on, things are about to get heavy!" Hiro deactivates the device, reversing the anti-gravity effect, when he did that Cass threw the net at Momakase, so when gravity returns it's the sushi chef's turn to be stuck in the net.

Luckily before Hiro fell to the ground, Baymax caught him, "Thanks buddy," he smiles at the robot.  
" _You are welcome._ " Baymax replies.

"Cass! Cass! Cass! Cass!" the audience cheers for his aunt, who smiles and takes a bow.

"No!" Momakase struggles and growls as she's stuck in the net.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Hiro Hamada: Hey is David okay? Didn't see him at school today.

Mikan Ferns: He's not feeling well, he'll be back tomorrow

Sara Ferns: And leave it there please? It'll make him feel worse

TheLittleMermaid: Tell him I hope he gets better soon! And that I'm sorry for arguing with him yesterday!  
Mikan Ferns: Will do

Wasabi: Wait what happened with David?

Sara Ferns He nearly threw hands with a thirteen year old

Hiro Hamada: Omg Ari is literally thirteen it fits!  
TheLittleMermaid :V

* * *

As Hiro got home from school and helped Aunt Cass clean the cafe, he noticed the tv was playing the report on Momakase's arrest.

"Nobody steals from Alistair Krei and gets away with it," the CEO of Krei-Tech reported to the camera as behind him Momakase was put in a police car, "and nobody tells Alistair Krei how much soy sauce to use."  
"Wow," Aunt Cass stared at the news report, "can you believe that woman was a dangerous criminal?"  
"And you stood up to her, sometimes I forget how amazing you are." Hiro tells his aunt.

"Thanks Hiro," Aunt Cass gives him a hug, at that moment a familiar turtleneck wearing blonde walks into the cafe.

"Chef Gramercy?" Aunt Cass raises an eyebrow, "what are you doing here?"

"Uh hello Cass, I should say Chef Cass," Gramercy clears his throat, "first of all, I'd like to apologize for my atrocious behavior."

Aunt Cass gives him a smile, "Thank you, I really appreciate it."  
"Secondly, I was wondering.." he looked nervous to say this next part, "I was wondering..if..if you could find it in your heart to-"  
"You want your nanas knives back," Cass answers, he nods and she leads him to her knife set trophy room. Which had all the knives she won from all her food fights, which was a lot, "So, which one are your nanas?"  
"Uh.." Gramercy was baffled at the amount of knives she had, he occasionally challenged competitors but he didn't have that many!

* * *

Ari giggled at the chef's shock, "Heh, he had a milder reaction than Hiro." she smirked, then noticing David walk into the cafe, remembering how Sara and Mikan explained he wasn't feeling well she approached with caution, "Hey David, how are you feeling?"  
"Not..the best," David mumbles, "first of all sorry for the argument we had back at the arena."  
"Water under the bridge," Ari waves it off, "but are you okay?"  
"Not really, remember how I told you my mom was one of the food fighters? And how a lot of people were arrested last night," Ari nodded, odd, she didn't remember hearing a lot of fighters got arrested. She only remembers that Momakase was arrested for stealing a device from Krei-Tech, _they must have not announced that on the news.._

"Well, my mom was one of the fighters," David sniffles, "I'm really not looking forward to having to visit her in jail now.."  
"Oh David that's awful," Ari gives him a hug, "I'm sure you'll get used to it."  
"Yeah, Mikan offered to take me each time I'll visit her," David shrugs, "I'll live."  
"Mhmm," Ari nods, then realizes something, "Wait you can visit people in prison?"  
"Yep," David answers, "Why? Is there someone you want to visit?"

Ari thought about the question before answering, who would she see in prison? But she thought of someone..well two someones..who she wished she got to know more before their arrest.  
"Yeah, there is," Ari tells him, "Do you think Mikan could help me visit as well?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Food Fight is a wrap!
> 
> A sushi wrap..*rimshot*
> 
> HAHAHA I'M HILARIOUS! Been waiting for that joke all day!
> 
> Stay turned for next week!


	15. Chapter 14: (Muihara Woods) Robin Revisit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari goes on a visit. Then on a trip. Then she finds out Hiro was stalking her and Gogo in the woods

"Mikan? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ari fidgeted with the seatbelt strap, true to her word Mikan was driving her to a certain..place.

"Relax mermaid, you getting the jitters?" Mikan didn't turn to face Ari, she had to have complete focus on the road, "it'll be fine, both David and Sara are covering for you so none of your nerdy friends know where we're going."  
"Yeah," Ari drummed her fingers on the car seat, "thanks for doing this before Gogo takes me with her to her 'thing' tomorrow."  
"No problem mermaid," Mikan shrugged, "has Gogo told you any details what her 'thing' is? None of us really bother to ask, Fred did once and regretted it five seconds later,"

Ari shrugged, "Nope, but I'm not gonna tell you because I promised."  
"Don't anger the driver mermaid…"

They soon reach their destination, the San Fransokyo prison and Ari feels her nerves skyrocket into the air.

"You sure we're allowed to just visit?" Ari stared at Mikan as they exited the car and began walking towards the building."  
"Oh would you calm down," Mikan huffs, "You're lucky I told them ahead of time so it's less of a freaking hassle, I don't need you chickening out."  
Ari nodded, and took some deep calming breaths as Mikan talked to the front desk. Ari sat down at one of the chairs and focused on every detail the front desk had as Mikan was chatting with the front desk. After awhile, two guards came in to escort Ari to another room. She waved Mikan goodbye and looked at the hallways as she walked. It was dark grey and light grey stone, she had passed by several of the metal bars designed to keep certain prisoners in. Ari looked away and huffed, _oh god I hope this doesn't go badly..or worse she punches me in the face..it's gonna take forever coming up with an excuse for that one!_

The guards stop at a room, "She's right here." one of them told her, "no touching or getting close to the prisoner."  
"Okay," Ari nodded, then she was led inside the small room, there was a wooden table in the middle. She took a deep breath and walked in, there was nobody else but one person. They were wearing a dull orange jumpsuit compared to their colorful clothes. They sat at the table with their arms crossed, and was surprised to see Ari, who took a seat at the other side of the table.

"You're that girl who fell out of a tree and came looking at the alley," she pointed to Ari, "What are you doing here?"  
"Wellll I guess curiosity?" Ari shrugged, "Your name's Barb right?"  
"Technically it's a nickname but yes, that is my name." Barb nodded, "and you are?"  
"Ariel Rosemary, everybody calls me Ari." She realized she never told both members of High Voltage her name, so she wasn't surprised that question was asked, "So..is prison food really that terrible as they say it is?"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Wow that shopping trip was fun Sara! Thanks for inviting me!  
Sara Ferns: No problem

Hiro Hamada: You went shopping?

TheLittleMermaid: Well the Fern kids did, I just tagged along

Sara Ferns: "We had fun" -David

Mikan Ferns: Yeah it was a real blast! XD

TheLittleMermaid: -_-

Wasabi: I don't get it

TheLittleMermaid: GOOD

* * *

"Spill, where were you?"  
"Gogo, I... have no idea what you're talking about?"  
"Yeah you didn't go shopping with the Fern kids."

"Hey that is a very serious accusation!"  
" _Explanation: now…_ "

"Okay okay!" After Ari went to Gogo's apartment to go do her 'thing', she immediately was getting drilled with questions, "I uh..went with Mikan somewhere."

"She took you to visit High Voltage didn't she?"

Ari sputtered, her face turning a vivid shade of pink.

Gogo chuckled, "relax, I won't snitch, it's none of my business anyways. As long as you're not trying to break them out of jail."

"I'm not," Ari shook her head, "I just talked to them, that's all."

"Them?" Gogo raised an eyebrow, "I thought you'd just speak to the one you have a crush on." Ari's cheeks went beed red, she looked away from Gogo in embarrassment.  
"No, I talked to both." Ari fidgeted with her hands, "I talked to Barb first, then Juniper, apparently they're not on speaking terms for some reason."

"Oh?" Gogo smirked, "did you find out?"

"Something about an argument before their arrest," Ari shrugged, "pretty sure it won't last long."

"Uh huh, well let's get going." Gogo handed Ari a helmet because she was going to need one while riding her motorcycle.  
"Remind me again where we're going exactly? You said it might help with my amnesia so it's why you made an exception in the first place."  
"You'll see."

* * *

As Gogo drove down the city, Ari just held on tight and looked at the sights. She could've sworn the car behind them was following them but it could just be her imagination. Her friend drove the motorcycle past the Torii Gate Bridge, _Huh, I haven't been outside of the city yet, I wonder where this 'thing' is_..Ari wondered, she then looked to her right and saw a sign.  
"Muihara Woods?" she questioned, "I didn't know you liked the woods Gogo," the motorcycle was parked at the end of the road by the trees.  
"It's peaceful," Gogo replied.  
"I heard from Fred that there's a monster in these woods called the Hibagon," Ari looked through the dense trees, "he claimed it was nine feet tall with a chocolate brown mane and large feet, then he showed me a picture." she picked up a twig from the ground, "pretty sure it's just a clickbait story."  
"Well I haven't seen any monster whenever I go here, Fred has a tendency to believe anything he reads." Gogo shrugs.

* * *

Behind them, Fred sneezed, "Achoo!"

" _Bless you."_ Baymax stated. " _Would you like a tissue?_ "

"Shhh!" Hiro whispered, "they can't find out we followed them!"

* * *

"I keep hearing things," Ari mumbled.

"Probably a sparrow, or a cricket." Gogo continued to trek through the woods, "we're here."

"Wow." Ari awed at the sights, they were sitting by the river on a warm rock. The sunlight glistened through the pine trees, the ground felt soft under Ari's feet. She smelled the scent of wood from the trees, she could hear animals chirping but out of sight. When sitting by the stream, she felt strange. It wasn't a bad kind of strange, but a good strange. It reminded her of the time she had that weird water dream, "I can see why you visit here."  
"Yep." Gogo gets her binoculars and sees a woodpecker, "can you remember anything?"  
"Let me think," Ari hummed, "I remember that..I love nature?"

Gogo chuckled, "well it's something at least."  
"I also remember taking hikes with my parents!" Ari exclaimed, "we'd go hike up trails, and camp overnight with marshmallows, and look at the deer!" she sighed, "that's the first time I remembered having parents..they must miss me a lot."  
"Don't worry, you'll find your family soon." Gogo told her.  
"Thanks," Ari smiled, "so is this an alone thing for you? It was nice of you to trust me to keep this secret, I promise to not spill."

"Mhmm," Gogo nodded, "I usually go by myself, haven't told any of the others, but sometimes someone else joined me on my bird watching trips."

Ari whistled, "Wow, was it Mikan? She could've been acting like she didn't know for a reason yesterday but.."  
"No, it wasn't any of the Fern kids," Gogo shook her head, "Tadashi used to join me on my bird watching trips whenever he was stressed out."  
"Oh.." Ari felt her throat go dry, it always felt like tiptoeing through a landmine when anyone mentioned the infamous Tadashi Hamada, "what stressed him out?"  
"Most of the time it was his work on Baymax," Gogo answered, her tone neutral, "but a few times it was because Hiro drove him crazy."  
"I can see that," Ari chuckled, "Hiro is awesome but he drives me up the walls, though most of the time he tends to work in the garage. I make sure to let him have his alone time, he could use it." Gogo nodded, understanding where she was coming from.

"Say, Gogo?" Ari questioned, "is there any way I can help Hiro?..it must have been hard for all of you to lose your friend, and I want to help."  
"You being a friend to Hiro and to all of us is good enough help," Gogo told her, "Fred's been a lot happier since meeting you, Wasabi enjoys your company, and Honey Lemon loves the cat pictures you send her."

"Really?" Ari blinked, was she that good of a friend?  
"Yeah." Gogo nodded, "you're good company Ari, and a good secret keeper."

* * *

"Wow," Hiro exclaimed, "now I feel guilty for eavesdropping on a private conversation." him, Baymax and Fred were in the trees. Why? So they could see what Gogo's "thing" was.

"Yeah but at the same time, it was so sweet." Fred wiped a tear from his eye, "Ari's a beam of energy that found her way into our hearts."  
"Yeah," he nodded, Ari was something special to him. Not in any romantic way because..EW! But in his heart he thought of the girl as something more than a friend, he just didn't know what it was.

Fred sees a squirrel next to him and smiles, "Awww hey little guy." The squirrel looks at him and scurried away, letting him have a better view across the river. Fred could see something in the trees, it was tall, it had a dark mane, it was-

"The Hiba-"

The branch they were all on snaps off the tree, causing them to fall into the running river.

"Aaah!" as they land in the water, both Fred and him cling to Baymax to keep them afloat. The current drags them down the stream, as they keep rafting further and further away.

" _There are large radishes ahead_." Baymax states, Hiro stares at the robot and notices his twitching eye.

"Radishes?" he raises an eyebrow then looks ahead, "you mean rocks?"

" _Yes, radishes._ " Fred stares at Baymax with confusion, " _we are go-go-going to hit those radishes_."  
"Uh oh, I think the water is causing Baymax to malfunction," Fred exclaims, they have to get out of the river soon before the typical "falling off a giant waterfall" moment happens! He sees a branch up ahead, "Hiro, grab that branch!"  
"Got it!" Hiro climbs on top of Baymax and is able to reach the branch, he grabs on and pulls them all onto the shore, their clothes and bodies soaking wet from the cold water.

"That was.." Fred collapses onto the ground, "not as I thought water rafting was supposed to be."  
"Fred, where are we?" Hiro looks around, all he sees are the trees and leaves around them.  
"I don't know, I better call Healthcliff," Fred pulls out his phone to call the butler, but it starts to glitch, stating there was no service. "Weird..my phone's waterproof, maybe it's because of how far we are from shore? Not sure but it's acting all crazy."  
"Your phone's not the only thing acting crazy." Hiro points to Baymax, the robot was staring at a tree for some strange reason.

" _Hel-lo-lo, I am Baymax._ "

* * *

"Why is Baymax talking to a tree?" Fred questions, Hiro shrugs, then decides to approach the robot.

"What's going on buddy?" Hiro stares at the robot, puzzled by his strange behavior. "Oh uh, wet circuits right?" he presses his face against Baymax's vinyl to see his skeleton, which was working fine. "Huh, it looks fine..weird."  
" _One a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your p-pineapple?_ " Baymax shows a bunch of pineapples instead of faces on his chest, the screen was glitching as well.

"I think we'd better get you home and fix ya," Hiro then sees Baymax waddles up to him with his defibrillators active and presses a hand to stop the robot from shocking his already soaking body. "Baymax! Woah woah woah stop!"  
" _Stick out your tongue and say aaaaaaaaaah,_ " as Baymax continues to say " _aaaaah_ " Hiro turns to Fred.

"What are we going to do? We're in the middle of nowhere!" he was starting to feel the panic settling in.

"Calm down Hiro," Fred tried to comfort him, "I bet Healthcliff is looking for us right now."

* * *

Heathcliff in actuality, was enjoying a nice relaxing soak in the limosine's hot tub. That Fred had been in during the whole drive following Gogo and Ari.

* * *

"I don't think so-look we're miles down where we started and nobody knows where we are!" Hiro exclaims.  
"Maybe Gogo and Ari saw us when we were hiding from her and saw us float downstream." Fred pointed out.

"Yeah! they can't be that far!" Hiro nodded, "Gogo! Ari! Where are you?!"  
"Gogo! Ari!" him and Fred start calling for the girls, neither of them noticing that Baymax was starting to waddle away from them.

"Gogo! Ari!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: So Big Hero 6

Wasabi: What about em?

Sara Ferns: You ever wonder who they are?

Wasabi: Not really?

Mikan Ferns: Sara why is this mentioned...again

Sara Ferns: 'Cause I want to write a thank you letter to them! Because they've made the city a safer place!

Honey Lemon: Aww that's so sweet of you Sara, I'm sure Big Hero 6 would love it

Sara Ferns: Problem is idk how to send this letter to them!  
Wasabi: I know you'll find a way

Sara Ferns: Thanks Wasabi

* * *

"Hey guys," Gogo greeted her friends, it had turned to evening since Ari and her left the woods. They were now back at the SFIT Robotics lab and saw Wasabi and Honey Lemon in the lab.

"Hello!" Ari waved.  
"Hey Ari," Honey Lemon waved back.  
"You guys are in a good mood," Wasabi noted, "which is surprising considering Hiro and Fred followed you guys."

"What?!" they both exclaimed.  
"Why?!" Ari questioned, she knew Hiro was a bit nosy but this...not cool!

"They wanted to know what your thing was Gogo," Honey Lemon explained, "we told them not to but-"  
"Are you sure Hiro and Fred followed us?" Gogo raised an eyebrow, "we didn't see them."

"I think so," Honey Lemon turned to Wasabi, "I mean we haven't seen them all day."  
"That's concerning." Ari points out, "should we be concerned?"  
"Don't worry, I'll just ping their phones," Wasabi walked over to the computer and began to tap the keyboard, a humming noise followed, "They're dead."  
Ari and Honey Lemon gasp with horror.

"No sorry, their phones are dead." Wasabi saw their looks of horror and reassured them, "my bad."  
"Try the last known location," Gogo tells him, he taps on the keyboard and it brings up a location.

"Muihara Woods? Why would they-" Wasabi has a look of realization and turns to Gogo, "oooohhh, that's where you go."  
"Mhmm," Gogo nods, "and?"  
"And it's starting to get dark." Honey Lemon explains, "something bad could happen to them if they're left in the woods at night."  
Ari gasps, a part of her wanted to rush towards Muihara Woods to save Fred and Hiro but a part.."I can't go."  
"Why not?" the others look at her with confusion.  
"When I was in the woods, I got this weird..feeling," she explains to them, "I don't know what it is...but it's not good, I don't want to risk it, especially since I remembered important information today!"  
"Important information?" Wasabi questions.  
"Ariel here started to remember her family," Gogo answers for her.

"That's great news Ari!" Honey Lemon exclaims, "why don't you stay here, so if Hiro and Fred come back, you can tell us!"  
"Okay," Ari nods, the others grab flashlights and start to exit the lab, "be careful!" She calls them as they leave.  
"We will!" Honey Lemon waves, and her, Wasabi, and Gogo are on the search for Fred and Hiro.

"Now what am I supposed to do," Ari hums, play that mobile game she downloaded last week? No, she was stuck on a level that "elevated her blood pressure," according to Baymax. Maybe the Fern kids were around? No, they usually left SFIT when classes ended, who else would be here?  
"Oh duh," Ari facepalms, then walks out of the lab. "I wonder if she's still here, we haven't talked in awhile so it would be nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet a handful of you guessed where Ari was gonna go
> 
> I didn't write the whole HV visit..you get a tidbit of the convo from Barb, but off-screen the chat with Juniper went, very, veeery well in Ari's terms. So don't expect her to let go of her crush anytime soon : )
> 
> Next week's chapter is gonna have the technology hating wild man..and a familiar duo you might know if you've seen my DA
> 
> That's all I gotta say!


	16. Chapter 15: (Muihara Woods) Ned Ludd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro and Fred run into wild woods man Ned Ludd  
> and also two dorks.

Crickets chirped, the sun was setting on Muihara Woods. Light was dipping underneath the pines, welcoming cold darkness.

"Baymax? Where are you buddy?" Hiro called out in the dark woods, the robot had wandered off somewhere, and Hiro was very worried for his friend's safety.

"Baymax?" Fred and him had been calling the robot's name for awhile now, but there was no sign of the healthcare companion. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"He's gotta be somewhere!" Hiro stomped a foot on the ground, "how could I lose Baymax!"  
"Hiro?" Fred turns to him, "what if the Hibagon got him?"

He gave him a deadpan look, "there is no such thing as the Hiba-" rustling leaves cut him off, both Fred and him stare at a wiggling bush.

"What is that?" Hiro questions.  
"Maybe it's the Hibagon," Fred guessed, the rustling leaves get louder, "Hibagon.."  
"Or maybe it's Baymax!" Hiro starts to walk up to the bush, "Baymax?"  
A large, brown furred creature greets him, and roars.

"Or a bear!" Hiro's eyes went wide with horror as the bear roared at them

"I...really..hate..this..place," he creeped away from the bear, and began to scream. Fred starts screaming with him, and covers his eyes with his beanie.

"Time out bear!" a blur flies out of another bush, "you got every right to attack these fools. But I..have every right to defend 'em, it's your choice." The blur in the bush was a man, with long messy brown hair that was like a lion's mane, eyes of the same color and tan skin. His clothes looked old and ripped, the only thing keeping his attire together was woven leaves and other things.

The bear roared at this newcomer.  
"Don't give him a choice!" Fred exclaimed. "I don't want to be bear food!"

"Hold still!" the man climbs on top of Fred and Hiro's shoulders, "you must intimidate the bear, it is the only way." he shakes his head, which causes his mane of hair to spike up. He then roars at the bear, lifting his arms and cane into the air. The bear roars back and retreats.  
"You never saw me!" The man grabbed a tree branch and leaped back into the woods, leaving Hiro and Fred puzzled.

"What was that?" Fred turned to face Hiro, who shrugged.  
"Maybe he could help us," Hiro then started to call the man "we need your help! We're lost and none of our gear works!"  
"That's 'cause of Bessie," the man returns, but he was riding a moose.

"How are you?" Hiro lifted a finger, "wait wh-who's Bessie?"  
"Obviously Bessie's the moose," Fred points to the mammal.

"No, Bessie's not the moose you dum-dums." The man shook his head, "the bear!"

"The bear is Bessie?" Fred raises an eyebrow, and gestures to the direction the bear left.

"The bear is behind you." he points, both of them turn to see the bear was back roaring after them. "Get on!" the man gestures to the moose, "let's get out of here!"  
"Couldn't agree more!" Hiro exclaims, Fred and climbed on top of the moose and rode away from the bear, who stops running and roars in anger.

* * *

Back at SFIT, Ari was pacing back and forth behind a lab door.  
"Cmon Ari..just knock." she told herself, all it would take is one knock but her darn nerves were getting the better of her! "She might not even be in, she could've gone home early like the Fern kids," Ari sighed.

 _Why am I so freaking nervous?_ Ari questioned, it was just checking to see if someone was in the lab but she was jumpy as a mouse. However she didn't have to knock, the lab door slid open.

"Oh," Karmi was surprised to see that she was there, "what are you doing here?"  
"Hi Karmi," Ari waved, "we haven't talked in awhile, and I was at SFIT so...I went to see if you were in?" _I_ _hope Karmi doesn't catch how anxious I am.._ she sweatdropped.

"You wanted to talk?" she raised an eyebrow, "wouldn't you rather hang with the Fern kids or your other friends?"  
Ari shook her head, "Karmi you're my friend! So I want to hang with you!" the Biotech Major had wide eyes, not expecting that response.  
"Well if you want to talk, sure." Karmi gestured for Ari to enter her lab, she followed. Karmi got two chairs and pushed one over to Ari, "I already put all my viruses and dangerous organisms away so you're good."  
"Don't you ever worry about catching an illness from studying viruses?" Ari sits down in the chair.

"Nope, I know what I'm doing," she answered, "I make sure to follow all safety precautions when doing my research."  
"That's so cool!" Ari exclaimed, "has anything else been going in your life?"

"Well I've been mostly doing my work in class," Karmi shrugged, "it would be a lot easier if a certain Genius Boy would stop being a pain!"  
"Genius Boy?" Ari raised an eyebrow, "what did Hiro do?"  
"Everything, he's the worst!" Karmi exclaims, "always has to correct me in class, and acts like he's the best thing since sliced bread! Uhg!"  
Ari chuckled, it reminded of whenever she'd hear Hiro complain about Karmi, they both thought of each other as "the worst".

"I'm sure he is," Ari smiled, "you get rescued by Big Hero 6 from any falling lamps recently?"  
"No but I wish," Karmi had a goofy grin on her face, "Captain Cutie is just the best."  
"Captain Cutie?" she was puzzled who Karmi was referring to. "Oh, you mean the purple one? Is that what you call him?"  
"Mhmm," her friend nodded, too deep into dreamland to process her words, "he's just so handsome and heroic." Karmi realized who she was talking to and shook her head of daydreaming, "uh.." there was a pink blush on her face.  
"Oh don't worry." Ari waved it off, "I'm not gonna judge you on your crush, could be worse, you could have a crush on a bad person."  
Karmi raised an eyebrow, "I never got an answer when you said there was someone you had a crush on," now it was Ari's turn to turn into a blushing mess. "Who exactly are you crushing on?"  
"Umm…." Ari hid her face in her hands, "J-Juniper.." she mumbled.  
"From High Voltage?" Karmi questioned, Ari gave an embarrassed nod, "Hmm. I can see that, she is cute. Plus I saw a video online that had a familiar looking girl being spun around." The biotech major gestured to her.  
"She also saved me from falling down a tree," Ari blushed, thinking about how close she was to her rescuer's face. "She's so pretty and a good dancer. And the way the purple highlight in her hair compliments her attire..." She hummed, "what a star."

"Wow." Karmi hummed, raising an eyebrow at her gushing. "You've got it bad."  
"You don't say.."

* * *

In Muihara Woods, the man and the moose had arrived at a treehouse in the center of the forest.  
"Woah!" Fred exclaimed, "that's the coolest treehouse I've ever seen, I wish we made ones like those in camp."  
"This is your house?" Hiro asks the man.  
"Oh, it's not mine." the man replies.  
"Wait, if it's not yours, who lives here?" Fred questioned.

"I do, but it belongs to the woods." the man stares into the forest, "I just mind it." he gestures for them to come over, "wanna come up and take a looksie?"

"Actually we need to find-" Hiro is cut off from Ned hitting the side of the tree trunk with his staff.

"Hey! Girlie!" Ned yells up to the tree, "lower the lift!" Hiro and Fred look up as a wooden lift lowers to the ground.

"Do you have a roommate?" Fred raised an eyebrow, "Are you this guy's roommate?!" he yells to whomever is above.  
"No!" a young girl's voice yelled back, "I just visit!"  
"Rachel who are you yelling at?" Hiro heard another voice question, but this one was older and had more sass in her tone.  
"I think Ned brought some guests!" the voice named Rachel replied to who questioned her. When the lift was flat on the ground, Hiro and Fred got on as Ned began pulling it towards the top of the treehouse.

"I don't get to show off too much," the man (Ned?) explains, "that's the downside of the hermit lifestyle."  
"Oh my goodness," Fred exclaims when they reach the top, "look at all these original hardwood floors!" The treehouse was very authentic, made of complete wood. Very traditional looking, Hiro saw a brown haired girl and a..blue cat? Next to the wooden lift, _must be the ones who lowered it down_.

"Oh wow, you're Hiro Hamada." the girl recognized him, "I saw the video of your microbot presentation, incredible work."

"Thanks," Hiro smiled, "you're a regular at the Lucky Cat right? Rachel Rosemary?"  
"Yep!" Rachel nodded, "and this is my cat Katie!" she gestures to the strange blue colored cat resting on her shoulder.

"Huh, was the cat the one who talked?" Fred questioned, "I don't see anyone else here, except you and your cat."  
Hiro shook his head at his friend, "Fred don't be ridiculous, cats can't tal-"

"Wow," the sassy voice spoke from the feline's mouth, "this guy is smart."

His jaw dropped to the ground as Fred exclaimed, "I knew it!" then realized the cat talked, "wait how are you doing that?!"  
"It's a long story," Rachel explained, "to make it short it's because Katie's a genetically enhanced cat."  
"Accept that and don't ask anything else." Katie twitched her whiskers, he decided not to push his luck.

"Okay, so what are you both doing here?" Hiro questioned.

"I like to spend time in the woods, and do some studying." Rachel explained, "Ned here can probably explain." she gestures to the man who's placing some fireflies in a lamp to provide light.

"No thanks," he shook his head. "We need to find Baymax."  
"I know, but look!" Fred started to poke around the treehouse, "original hardwood everything!"

"Maybe I could spot Baymax from up here." Hiro walked up to the treehouse's windows, he peered into the forest trying to look for a flash of white.

"Baymax?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, she walks up to the window, "I'll try and look as well."  
"Thanks."

* * *

Fred saw a couple papers on the tree trunk wall, he went over to read what was on them.  
"Ned Ludd, the real estate king?" Fred saw on one of them a picture of a man with slicked back brown hair and business attire, "the one who went bats and disappeared?" he mimicked bats flying with his arms.

"Shhh!" Katie shushed him, Hiro walked up to Fred and saw the glare the man was giving him.  
"Uhh...:" Hiro flinched at the anger, it wasn't even directed at him.

"Oh," Fred gestured to the picture, "that's you, isn't it?" he clenched his teeth, "sorry.."  
"It don't bother me none," Ned put more fireflies in a lamp, "yeah people do think I'm crazy."  
He stared at the fireflies, "but after what happened to me, you see bunkin' here was...well it was the only sane thing to do."

Ned remember years ago when he stared out into the woods, on a ridge with his car parked next to him.

"I was young, full of fire and obsessed with getting mine. You see, I had big plans for Muihara-"  
"Mr. Ludd?" Hiro speaks up, "sorry to interrupt but our friend-"

"Um, can't you see I'm holding the story snake!?" Ned gestures to the green snake coiled on his arms, which hisses at Hiro, "it's my turn to talk."  
"You can't really stop him when he gets on his tangents," Rachel whispers to Fred, "just nod and pretend you know what he's saying."

"Now where was I?" Ned turns to the snake.  
"I had big plans for Muihara, tear it all down." He remembered in his foolishness desiring to build a city in the place of the great forest, "until one night, fate had a different plan." On his way driving home, his car malfunctioned, "I thought I was a goner, dunzo and dead. But then..I was saved." there was a green light that passed his car when he almost drove off the cliff.

"Great story," Hiro interrupts yet again, "but we really need to-"  
He's cut off from both the snake and Katie hissing at him.  
"Let him finish the dang story!" Katie growled, "it's a good one!"  
Ned clears his throat and continues, "I was saved! By nature itself!" something had crashed behind his car and it caused it to stop just before falling over the cliff, saving his life. He remembered getting out of the car, and looking to see what stopped his vehicle.

"And it was at that moment, I realized I was not meant to cut down the woods. No I was meant to live in the woods, away from the big city, away from all things techno-illogical."

"I was meant to live in the woods, with Bessie." Ned finished his story, remembering seeing the green glowing meteor in the crater, how it called it to him, and gave him a new purpose.

"Still not clear on who this 'Bessie' person is." Fred questions, Hiro and him were creeped out by how intense the look Ned was giving them. The man gives Fred the lamp, pushes him to the side with his cane, and walks over to a curtain. He pulls the curtain over to show a green glowing meteorite.

"Oh, Bessie's the meteorite," Fred realized, "make sense!"  
"That's what I study when I go here," Rachel nods, "Bessie."

"Huh," Hiro walks up to the meteorite, "the magnetic field from uh..Bessie, must be what killed your tech, and ours!" he stares at the glowing green rock, "Baymax, that's what's wrong with him." He tries to touch the rock but Ned steps in front and growls.

"Hands off!" he yells, then goes to comfort the rock, "that's a good girl Bessie. That's a good little girl."  
Hiro steps back, he and Fred look at Ned who's comforting Bessie as if "she" is a sad puppy. They look at each other with confusion.

"Yeah I stopped questioning it a long time ago," Rachel sighed.

"I'm telling ya Rach, the rock is sentient." Katie's ears perk up, "you just don't believe me."  
"Says the talking cat," Hiro grumbles, "we just want to look for our friend, we've been looking all day."  
"You were out in the woods all day?" Rachel gasps, "you must be tired!" she turns and calls to Ned, "hey do you mind if I give these guys some sap! They've been in the woods all day!"  
"I told ya a dozen times girlie!" Ned stopped patting Bessie to reply back, "I don't mind if you use my things as long as you don't bring any of that machine stuff!"

"But-" Hiro lifts a finger to object.  
"Shush and take the sap." Rachel drags Hiro and Fred towards a table and sits them down, she gives them a cup of warm tree sap. Hiro sniffs the sap, then takes a sip.  
"Huh," the taste was sweet, and sticky, "not bad."  
"Yeah kind of reminds me of soda." Fred takes a gulp of his drink.

"Don't guzzle the sap," Rachel warns him.

"I'm not guzzling it," Fred stopped gulping and frowns.  
"I wasn't talking to you," she points to Ned, who's taking large gulps of the sap.  
"Excuse me? Mr. Ludd?" Hiro calls to him, "our friend-"  
"Quick question have you seen the Hibagon?" Fred cuts him off.

"Really?" Hiro raises an eyebrow.  
"The Hibagon?" Ned feeds some of the mice that are rooted in his beard, "let me think..hmm." he slams his hands on the table, "yer lookin at him!" He gestures to himself.

"Whaaaaat?!" Fred exclaims, "you're the Hibagon?"  
"I know right?" Katie meows, "made me frightened at first, mostly due to his mane, it can be intimidating."  
"Well I like making people think there's a big ol' boogeyman out here in these woods." Ned grabs the newspaper featuring a "Hibagon sighting" with his cane and brings it over, letting the boys get a better look. "Keeps those dum-dums away."  
"Huh, that explains a lot," Fred notes, "but some people like our friends Gogo and Ari enjoy the woods, there's no need to scare _everyone_ away from Muihara."  
"Ari?" Rachel mutters under her breath, she turns to look at Fred, _so Ariel goes into the woods? Interesting, perhaps I'll ask how she felt. Being too close to Bessie can cause a reaction, like it did for me._ She keeps her expression neutral to mask her thoughts.

"Them city-folk don't appreciate the true beauty of the woods, always on their gadgets and gizmos and whatsits, none of them can appreciate nature unlike girlie and her cat." Ned gestures to Rachel and Katie, then scoffs when he sees Hiro poking at his glitching phone, "technology, humanity's worst idea ever."  
The Robotics major was offended by Ned's comment, "that's not true, technology is good, it can help people."  
"Or hurt people." Katie speaks up, Hiro glances at the cat, wondering if she was speaking from experience.

"The cat speaks truth," Ned pours himself more tree sap, "technology doesn't help people. You want more sap?" He refills Fred's cup.

"No thanks I'm good." Hiro says when Ned tries to refill his cup, "but we need your help sir, our friend Baymax is lost in the woods and we need your help finding him."  
Ned finishes his tree sap, grabs his cane, sits up, and starts to head for the door. Hiro and Fred watch him leave.  
"What are y'all doing just standing there? Let's go!" he gestures for them to follow.

"Oh." Hiro and Fred get up from their seats and start to follow.  
"Hey, you coming?" Hiro turns to look at Rachel, who is grabbing the empty cups from the table.  
"Nope," Rachel shrugs, "I'll just tidy here and head home, good luck finding your friend!"  
"Okay," and Hiro exits the treehouse with Fred.

"That is not going to end well," Katie notes, tail pointing at the treehouse exit.  
"You think?" Rachel frowns, "Ned hates robots, and I know that Hiro's friend Baymax is a robot."

"Hope Ned doesn't hurt the guys," Katie's whiskers twitch.

"I think they'll be fine," she reasurres the feline, "but if I found out Ned did try any harm I'm going to guilt him until he cries."

* * *

_Elsewhere…_

Gogo sighed, "I'm not picking up anything," she was using her phone's GPS to try and find the boys, but it wasn't working. "We must be in the 'technology-in-the-fritz' part of the woods."  
"There's a part of the woods like that?" Honey Lemon's eyes widened, "I've never been this deep in Muihara."  
"Mhhm," she nodded, "I never go too far into the woods because of that."  
"Speaking of the woods," Wasabi speaks up, "why?"  
Gogo turned around and huffed, "I like to go birdwatching okay!?" her outburst startled Honey Lemon and Wasabi, "it relaxes me!"  
"That sounds fun," Honey Lemon smiled, "maybe I could come sometime?"

"No. It's my alone thing."

Wasabi frowned, "if it's your alone thing, then how come you brought Ari along?"

She crossed her arms, "I thought it could jog up her memories, good news it worked."  
"No, but I thought you didn't trust Ari," he pointed out, "you didn't believe her story at first."  
Gogo glanced away, he was correct, she didn't trust Ari at first. "I was worried for Hiro, y'know, we all promised to look after him. I'm glad that I was wrong in my skepticism, the kiddo is a good friend to all of us."  
Honey Lemon wiped at a tear from her eye, "that is the most beautiful thing I've heard all day, so poetic."  
"Oh don't get all emotional on me."  
"Guys.." they turn around to see Wasabi pulling a familiar necklace from the river, "it's Fred's."  
"They were here," Honey Lemon realized.

"Look," Gogo pointed to the broken tree branch that the boys had clung onto, but there wasn't a trace of them.

Wasabi stood up, "since Baymax isn't here I'll just say it, oh no."

* * *

Hiro was walking in silence as Fred and him followed Ned on the trail for Baymax. The man found a broken branch of a bush, he parted the foliage to reveal Baymax in a clearing with flowers.

" _Good doggy,_ " the robot was petting a flower.

"Baymax!" Hiro ran to him and hugged the robot, "I'm so glad you're okay!"  
" _Nice kitty,_ " Baymax patted his head.

Ned however, was anything _but_ happy at that moment. "Your friend is a robot?"  
Hiro's eyes widened, remembering the man's distaste in technology, "a good robot," he explained, "he helps people."  
"No such animal as a good robot," Ned disappeared into the bushes.

"Is he trying to scare us?" Fred turned to Hiro, "because mission accomplished."

"You know what I think?" they heard the man's voice echoing through the trees, "I'm gonna boot him over a cliff." Yellow eyes peered from the neck of the pines. "That's what good old Bessie would want me to do."  
In a flash before they react, Baymax was hogtied and dragged away, " _goodbye,_ " and the two of them were trapped in a net.

"Baymax!" Hiro screamed as he saw the robot vanish into the shrubbery, "let him go! Stop it! Stop it!" He squirmed, the movement of his legs trying to kick free ended up hitting poor Fred.  
"Ow!" Fred yelped, rubbing his sides, "Hiro you gotta calm down!"  
"I can't lose Baymax! Not again! I'm not doing that again!" Fred could see despite the darkness, tears running down Hiro's cheeks, and he knew what he was referring to.  
"Hey-hey-hey, we'll get Baymax back," Fred wiped the tears away, "but please stop kicking me in the ribs."  
Hiro started to take in deep, heavy, breaths, once he was calm enough he looked up at Fred. "Sorry for kicking you, we-we're gonna get Baymax back right?"  
"Yeah, I got a plan," with all of his might, Fred took a deep breath and yelled, "Haaallllp!" the loudness of his voice startled Hiro.

"Fred!" their eyes widened at Wasabi's voice, "uh...is-is there a bear over there?"

There was the sound of rustling as Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon appeared from behind a rock, "oh, you guys are okay!" The latter exclaimed, then noticing their situation, "...kinda."  
"Plasma blade would be handy right now," Wasabi commented.

Gogo pulled out a pocket knife and began cutting the rope, "hey Gogo," Hiro greeted her.  
"We'll have a convo about privacy later," _oh no.._ "but for now, I'm just glad you're alive."

The net breaks and they both hit the ground.

Honey Lemon glances around, "wait, where's Baymax?"

"The crazy wilderness real estate developer got him!" Fred exclaimed.  
"What?" Wasabi narrowed his eyes.

"It's a long story."  
"Which way did he go?" Gogo questioned.  
"I-I don't know!" Hiro exclaimed, "Where do we even start?!"  
"C'mon sto-" she tried to comfort him but it seemed to upset him even more, tears threatened to crawl down his cheeks once more.  
"No you don't get it!" his outburst caused the others to flinch, "Nothing works out here! Ned knows the woods like the back of his palm! And we-we're lost!" he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "Nothing works here…"  
The others glanced at each other and frowned, they hadn't seen Hiro having a meltdown like this since..Gogo sighed, she walked up to Hiro and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"So improvise," she told him, "Baymax needs you."

Hiro wiped his tears, "well we could-uhg! Except for Bessie!"  
"Bessie?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow, "who's Bessie?"  
"Weirdest part of the long story," Fred pointed out.

"Wait that's it!" Hiro realized, he turned to his friend, "Gogo, can you make a fire?"

They had grabbed sticks and other flammable materials around to create a fire, the smoke wafting above the trees, "Ned thinks there's only two of us, so we can use that to our advantage." Hiro explained, "since we can't track him, we need to lure him."

"How are we gonna do that?" Wasabi returned to the campfire with a bundle of sticks and pinecones for fuel.  
"By threatening the thing he cares about most..the woods."  
"We're not gonna hurt the woods, are we?" Honey Lemon looked fearful at the thought.

"Of course not, but Ned doesn't know that."

"What if he doesn't want to just give up Baymax?" Gogo questioned.

Hiro smirked, staring at the leftover materials from building the campfire, "I think I can make that work.."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hello

TheLittleMermaid: Are you guys there?

TheLittleMermaid: Guys!?

Mikan Ferns: Ari it's late at night what are you doing

TheLittleMermaid: I CAN'T REACH ANY OF MY FRIENDS DID A BEAR EAT THEM IN THE WOODS?!

Sara Ferns: Are you at Muihara?

TheLittleMermaid: No, but Gogo, HL, Fred, Hiro, and Wasabi are

Sara Ferns: Oh they're fine, just that technology doesn't work in Muihara for some weird reason

TheLittleMermaid: Really?

Mikan Ferns: I don't like it there, I always feel tingly the deeper I get into the woods, odd feeling

TheLittleMermaid: I felt weird when I was in the woods too!

Sara Ferns: Are you part dog or something?

Mikan Ferns: S A R A

TheLittleMermaid: No I just felt some sort of energy, might be just be reconnecting with my love of nature

Sara Ferns: Oh

Mikan Ferns: Ok meanwhile I gotta have a chat with Sara here

Sara Ferns: Mika please dopkomc[pvwrp,wcao[ve[,cw-clp-]cw

TheLittleMermaid: ?

* * *

Rachel groaned when she saw Ned return with his arm in a sling, "what did you do?"  
"Me?" Ned looked offended, "I try to save them dum-dums from their robot 'friend' and they light a fire! And then try and hit me with pinecones, and pitfalls, I dun broke my arm! It was humiliating having that robot put 'mah arm in a cast! Though gotta admit they improvised well, for a bunch of amateurs."

She rolled her eyes, "do you know why Hiro cares for Baymax so much?" When she saw Ned shook his head, she began to explain. "Because that robot is the last thing Hiro has left of his brother, Baymax is one of Tadashi Hamada's last inventions, and you tried killing his memory in front of Hiro!"

Ned flinched at the anger in her voice, "you sound like it's a personal attack on you."  
"You didn't even get my point!" Rachel grumbles, she stomps on the ground, "forget it!"  
Katie sighed at the former real estate guy, "you made a mistake."  
Ned grumbled, "well what are you two doing here, shouldn't you have gone home?"

"I was tidying up," Rachel picked up her cat, "we're leaving now." They exited the treehouse in a huff, leaving Ned alone.

* * *

After walking far enough, Rachel pulled out her phone from her pocket, and smiled when she saw it was working, "we're out of Bessie range," she told Katie.

"Why are you telling me?" Katie questioned.

"I'm making a call," Rachel dialed a number on her phone, the phone rang for a few seconds before someone picked up the call.

" _Hello? Oh hi Rachel!_ " the voice of Ariel Rosemary exclaimed on the other end.

"Hey Ariel," Rachel replied, keeping her tone neutral, "I saw some of your friends in the woods today."  
" _You did? Huh_ ," Ari hums, she heard shuffling of papers on the other end. " _If you say Hiro and Fred, it's because they followed me into the woods!_ "

"Define follow," she noted the hint of anger in Ari's tone.

" _By 'follow' I mean when I went to reconnect with my love of nature with a friend they were stalking me and ruining my sense of privacy!_ "  
"Ah," Rachel knew how the girl felt, "maybe it was because your friends are worried for you."  
" _Yeah but do they have to know my every action?_ " Ari groaned, " _just because I have amnesia doesn't mean I'm fragi-_ " she stops talking. Rachel hears Ari slap her hand on something, presumably her mouth at the realization of what she said.

"Just so you know I'm a good secret keeper," Rachel tells her, "I wouldn't say a word, well maybe to Katie but she's a good secret keeper as well."  
" _Oh...so as you heard from that..I can't remember anything, it's why I was in Muihara, I remembered a little of my parents._ " Ari's voice became more high pitched and nervous with every word.

"Hope your memory comes back soon," Rachel told her, "and nice to hear you remembered something, was it a good memory?"  
" _Yeah it was! It was a memory of hiking and I've been remembering more details!_ " Ari was excited on the other line, the girl's enthusiasm was cute in a way. " _I think it's a sign that I'll remember stuff quicker!_ "  
Rachel chuckled, "good on keeping positive, enthusiasm will keep you running."

" _Thanks,_ " there was the sound of a door opening on the other line, " _looks like Hiro's home, gotta give him the riot act for stalking me._ "  
"Aw, be nice to him." Rachel teased, Ari chuckled and ended the conversation.

"You deserve an Oscar," Katie noted, "that was some really good-"  
"Katie hush," her friend glared at the feline, "Ari would've been freaked out if she knew I was aware of her amnesia the whole time."  
"Yeah yeah, I know." Katie shook her head, "but it's not her fault you were able to pick up she had amnesia."

"The fact that she didn't recognize me and stared at me puzzled from day one rang some alarm bells," Rachel sighed, "we better get home quicker or my dad's gonna open up a missing case for me."  
"That joke wasn't funny the first million times you said it!"  
"It annoys you so it's funny!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So far this chapter is my favorite?
> 
> Why? Because my girls Rachel and Katie are together as a duo! For context: both of them are old OCs of mine, and I just had to add them into HOF.
> 
> And before you ask yes, Katie is a talking blue cat. Considering the other stuff that exists in the show *coughthemayoicough*, I don't think she's logic breaking. Let me live people!
> 
> Also surprise surprise, Rachel knew of Ari's amnesia the whole time, and seems to know her : ) oh I bet it's something harmless...maybe..maybe not..you guys gotta continue to read to find out


	17. Chapter 16: (Failure Mode) City Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari yells at Hiro for his shenanigans. Globby attacks an art gala. And Hiro doesn't do his homework.

Hiro had one angry Ari laying in wait for him when he got home, she at least let him put Baymax in his charging station before yelling at him.

" _The clenching of your jaw and increased heart rate indicates that you are angry._ " Baymax noted, his screen showed a picture of someone with a clenched jaw.

"Yeah I know," Ari glared, Baymax deactivated and went into his charging station, and Hiro prepared for the scolding he was about to receive.  
"So, two little birdies told me that you were stalking Gogo and I in the woods today," she spoke through her gritted teeth.  
"Stalking?" Hiro sweatdropped, "that's a bit of a strong word there."  
"Don't try to joke it off! I am livid! That was an invasion of privacy!" she hissed, "I don't go poking in the garage when you do your 'school projects' but I at least respect your boundaries!" she said "school projects" with finger quotes.  
"I know," Hiro sighed, on the inside he was grateful Ari didn't go in the garage when he was working on superhero stuff, "and I'm sorry."

"Good," Ari narrowed her eyes, "you better feel bad." then her tone went a little softer, "I also heard you ran into my pal Rachel Rosemary in the woods today, did she have to rescue you?"  
"How did you...nevermind," Hiro shook his head, "she didn't rescue us, it was the weird Hibagon-real estate guy."  
"The Hibagon?" Ari raised an eyebrow, "you mean that monster in the woods? You ran into it?!"  
"Technically," Hiro pressed his hands together, "we ran into Ned Ludd, the guy that pretends to the Hibagon to scare people away, has a weird technology disrupting meteorite called Bessie, and almost threw Baymax off a cliff!"  
"Huh that explains a lo-wait he did what?!" Ari exclaimed.

"Yeah, can you do the yelling at me more tomorrow, I'm still recovering from that," Hiro sighed, lying down on his bed.

"This guy almost destroys Baymax?! What the heck!? That's messed up!" Ari was pacing back and forth, "if I ever run into the Hibagon I'm gonna throw hands!"

"You can do it tomorrow.." Hiro sighed, "I'm tired."  
"Okay, fine." Ari went to her bed and got under the covers, "goodnight Hiro."  
"Goodnight Ari."

* * *

The next morning, Ari saw all of the Fern kids were getting breakfast in the Lucky Cat. As well as Honey Lemon and Gogo, she waved to the group and grabbed a chair.  
"Hey," Ari greeted as she sat down.  
"Hello," David greeted first, "did you get some good rest?"  
"Did you murder Hiro in his sleep?" Sara chimed in.  
"What? No!" Ari shook her head, "he's still getting dressed, dude takes forever to get ready."

"Speak of the devil," Gogo pointed out as Hiro and Baymax walked up to the table.

" _Hello_ ," the robot greeted.

"Hey guys," Hiro waved, "where's Wasabi and Fred?"  
Mikan shrugged, "dunno, maybe they couldn't make it today."  
"So," Ari hummed, "about Muihara.."  
"Let me guess, you got to a part in the woods and your phone stopped working." David took a sip of his coffee, "nobody knows why, we certainly don't know."  
"I found out, it's a long story." Hiro explained, "I'll tell you guys later at school."  
"Woah," Sara had wide eyes, "did you run into the Hibagon?"  
"Hibagon's just a myth Sara," Mikan speaks up.  
"No it's not!"

"Maybe don't tell them that part," Ari whispers to Hiro, who nods.  
"Anyways, did you guys hear the San Fransokyo Museum of Art is opening a new exhibit?" she mentions, "I read on the news the other day that it's opening tonight."  
"Really?" Honey Lemon questions, "yay! I love the art museum, they have the best paintings!"  
"Well, we better get to school." Hiro tells her, "bye Ari."  
"Bye Hiro!" she waves as they exit, "have a fun day!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Fredilicous24: There's a new museum opening what?!

Mikan Ferns: Yeah, Sara and David are gonna go

Wasabi: How come you're not

Mikan Ferns: My dad needs my help on something biotech related and I don't care much for art

Honey Lemon: But Mikan art is a big part of life!  
TheLittleMermaid: Can I go with Sara and David?

Sara Ferns: Sure! Anyone else want to come?

Hiro Hamada: I'm good

Gogo: Same

Fredilicous24: I might go, but I have some stuff to do so maybe not

TheLittleMermaid: I'll tell you guys if anything fun happens!

* * *

"Isn't the museum pretty?" Sara asks her.  
"Yeah," Ari nods, "it's amazing." They were inside the San Fransokyo Museum of Art, a lot of fancy dressed people had come to see the new exhibit, Ari had fun looking at all the art displayed.  
"Hey, where's David?" Ari questions, not seeing Sara's brother nearby. "Didn't you two say you were going to go in together?"  
"He wandered off somewhere, no biggie." Sara shrugged.  
"Shouldn't you be concerned?" Ari raised an eyebrow, "you said it's a bad thing to get separated from your brother when you guys are out together.

"It'll be fiiiine! The museum isn't that large! We might bump into him," Sara dragged Ari off to where the new exhibit is, the girl wondered why Sara was acting so weird. _She's hiding something._

"Oh wow, that's a pretty painting." Ari exclaims, there was a beautiful painting that was part of the new exhibit, it had warm orange colors and painted the city of San Fransokyo in an inspiring manner.  
"Pretty neat huh, it's called 'City Rising' and it was made by Lenore Shimamoto." Sara explains, "she painted it to capture the city's rebirth after the Great Catastrophe of 1906, which was lost for a hundred years. Honey Lemon is a big fan of Shimamoto by the way."

"Really?" Ari questioned, "and also, what was the Great Catastrophe?"  
"Giant earthquake that damaged most of the city and also destroyed Torii Gate Bridge, so glad I wasn't around during that time." Sara sighed, "if anything happened to my family or friends, I don't know how I'd recover."

"Yeah," Ari nods, "I don't know either," she then notices a familiar face at the gala.

"Is that David?" she recognized the familiar head of ruffled black hair with blue dye, he was with someone else. A woman of African American descent, she had dark curly hair tied into a bun, was wearing a beautiful frilly pink dress, and had diamond studs, she looked to be a high class citizen. "Who's that with him?"  
"No one!" Sara shoves her away, "probably chatting up with another visitor! Let's keep looking!"

Ari pouted, but wanted to enjoy the rest of the Shimamoto exhibit so she kept quiet.

"So, how have you been-" her words were cut off by the sound of breaking glass.  
"The heck?" Sara and several other guests glance up to see that the skyline had been broken, a purple sticky blur was still stuck to the skyline. It fell to the ground with shards of glass sticking, it moves from an unmoving blob on the ground too-  
"Oh darn it's Globby!" Ari exclaims, recognizing the living purple glob monster who declared himself as a supervillain on live television.  
"Yeah we're out!" Sara yells, and they both book it out of the museum, everyone else following suit and screaming.

"The gala is under attack by an inhuman freak!" a security guard exclaims, "out of my way!" everyone rushes down the stairs.

Once they were far away enough from the museum, Ari saw a familiar group of superheroes enter. "Hey its Big Hero 6!" she pointed to them.  
"Goodie," Sara smiled, "wonder why Globby broke in the first place…"  
"Well the superheroes can stop em!"

* * *

Honey Lemon, Fred, Baymax, and Hiro entered the museum, they were staking out the event outside at Fred's request and the latter was correct that a supervillain would attack.  
"Nice try supervillain!" Fred exclaimed, "but justice will prevail!"

The supervillain was Globby, who was attempting to remove the broken glass stuck to him, "darn it! Knew I should've gone through the front door!"

"I dunno Fred," Hiro quipped, "I wouldn't call Globby a supervillain, maybe a subpar villain."

"Subpar villains aren't a thing." Fred argues, "what am I supposed to say?"  
"Low quality villain?" he suggests, a finger lifted in the air.

"That could work.."

"Ohh there should be a warning on that skylight!" Globby complains as he plucks glass of his arms, "glass may shatter!"  
"Time out guys," he tells the superheroes, "really appreciate this, makes the job work out. You guys are looking sharp by the way, love the color coded armor."  
"Subpar," Hiro tells Fred, "let's just get him.

" _Broken glass can be hazardous,_ " Baymax explains.

"Fine, we'll wait." Fred crosses his arms, "I don't want to get any rips on the suit.."  
"Okay done," Globby tossed the last piece of glass of his body, "I'm in on three," as he counts the superheroes get ready to attack. "One...two.."

"Psyche!" he uses his arms to grab a painting off the wall.  
"He got City Rising!" Honey Lemon exclaimed in horror, Globby laughed as he used extra limbs on his back to swing across the room and into one of the hallways.

"After him!" Fred roars, leaping after the villain as Honey Lemon follows, but Baymax doesn't move.

"Baymax go!" Hiro told the robot

" _He did not finish counting,_ " Baymax explains, " _technically it is still time out._ "

Hiro sighed, "Okay three, now go!"  
" _Go,_ " Baymax activated his wings and flew after the others.

* * *

"That's not fair! You said time-out!" Fred yells at Globby who's swinging from the hallway ceiling.

"I lied!" Globby cackled, he swung globs at them. Fred jumped out of the way and Hiro ducked at one that flew over his head, it almost hit the paintings but Honey Lemon threw a chem ball that shielded a painting from getting glob on it.

"We have to protect the paintings!" Honey Lemon tells them, her message getting across on the communicators. Globby attempts to attack again but Fred intervenes.  
"Fredzilla to the rescue!" he roars, blasting his fire breath at the glob monster but he turns at a corner. Instead of Globby, a water fountain is hit instead and it melts. "Okay, I did that...whoops."

Hiro and Baymax fly after Globby, he attacks with the globs again but Fred uses his fire to burn them out. But it reaches the end of the hallway and it would hit a painting were it not for Baymax grabbing it before the fire hit.

"Fire and paintings, bad combo!" Hiro tells him.

"Right..good call," Fred nods, standing idle on the floor.

"Anti-sticky ball ready," Honey Lemon prepares a special chem ball for the glob monster as he's reaching the exit. As he attempts to escape, she throws the chem ball at him.

"Hey!" Globby is hit with the yellow colored chemicals which causes his globby body to unstick from the ceiling and he drops the painting. Honey Lemon sees the painting fall and was able to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Yes!" Honey Lemon exclaimed, then gasped, "oh my gosh, I'm holding City Rising!"  
Fred leaps and lands next to her, "you're talking about the famous painting? I've heard of that." He did hear Honey Lemon fangirl about it before Globby attacked.

Speaking of Globby, he was crawling on the ground like a caterpillar in an attempt to escape before the superheroes noticed. However Baymax saw and landed next to him.

" _Do not move, you could be injured from your fall,_ " Baymax picks up the glob monster, " _I will scan you now_."

"Don't worry Baymax," Hiro reasurres the robot. "They can take care of him in jail," he puts his hands on his hips.

"Pfft, jail?!" Globby scoffs, "they don't even make pants that can hold me!" He slips out of Baymax's grip, melting onto the floor and turning into a ...ball? "Boing boing boing everybody! Bye!" he bounces out the door and on top of a bus that's passing by the museum.

"What." Hiro deadpans.

"He can turn into a ball? That's new," Fred pointed out.

Globby reforms back into his humanoid shape, he turns to look back at the museum. As he's about to say something villainous his head hits a traffic light, it's stuck for a while but then he gets free and knocks himself over. "Darn it!" Globby grumbled, he'd soon try again to retrieve the painting.

* * *

"Well, at least we got the painting back," Honey Lemon smiled, she was extremely careful when placing City Rising back on the wall. "But why would Globby try to steal it?"  
"For money!" Fred exclaims, "It's a classic supervillain motive, remember how he used to be a purse thief?"  
"Could be," Hiro nods, "but how'd he know on the night of the museum opening? It's odd."

"Hey!" they all turn around in surprise, as a familiar curly blonde alongside a fluffy brunette walked into the museum. "Hi Big Hero 6!" Sara was waving like a madman at the superheroes, Ari just rolled her eyes at Sara and facepalmed.

" _Hello_ ," Baymax waved back.

"Oh uh.." Hiro cleared his throat, going for a more 'heroic tone' as he spoke, "hello citizens, it's rather late at night at you isn't it?"  
"I know," Ari nodded, "but Sara here really wanted to give you guys something and wouldn't leave..unfortunately.." she adds under her breath, Hiro wasn't a healthcare companion but he could guess that she was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

"So," Sara gave a nervous chuckle, and pulled out a letter from her purse, "I uh..wanted to give you guys this..it's a..um..letter."

"Why thank you!" Fred exclaims, he collects the letter from her, "we appreciate it!"  
"See," Ari nudged Sara, "I told you'd they would like it."  
"That's very sweet of you S...ma'am," Honey Lemon adds, "but you should get some sleep, I'm sure you have some things to do in the morning."  
"Yeah I do," Sara yawns, "I have school tomorrow. But I wanted to give my favorite superheroes a thank you letter for saving my friend."  
"Your friend?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, who was she talking about?

"Yeah, you saved my friend Wasabi from that stupid steam guy!" Sara explained, "if you guys didn't.." she shuddered, "I would've had a heart attack if anything bad happened to him."

"Oookay that's enough," Ari starts to drag Sara away, "goodnight Big Hero 6! Thanks again for saving the city!"  
" _Goodbye_ ," Baymax waved as they left, with the other just chuckling as they left.

* * *

_The next morning..._

"Guess what I made? Breakfast nachos el Diablo!" Cass exclaims, placing a plate of nachos on the table that Hiro, Ari, and the rest of their friends were sitting on.

"Breakfast nachos?! The unbalanced part of an unbalanced breakfast!" Fred rubs his hands together with glee, eager to dig into his meal.

"Uhg," Ari turns her nose at the spicy smell, "I think I'm about to lose mine.." the nachos had jalapenos, cheese, eggs, and bacon on top of them, while it appealed to Fred it didn't appeal to her.

"So, what were you guys doing out so late last night?" Cass turns to Hiro and Baymax.

"We, um.." Hiro struggled to find an answer.

" _We were at the museum._ " Baymax states.

"Huh, I was at the museum too!" Ari exclaimed, "must've missed you guys."

"Yeah, must've." Hiro shrugged.

"Hmm," Cass raises an eyebrow, finding the answer suspicious, at that moment Fred got to the spicy part of his breakfast nachos.

"Caliente! Muy caliente!" Fred exclaims, running to cool his burning tongue.

" _Hiro, this is your reminder that you have a school project due today,_ " Baymax tells him, a clock was pictured on Baymax's chest, " _that is currently..ten percent finished._ " He shows a percentage bar at that percent.

"Dude," Ari narrows her eyes at Hiro, who gestures for Baymax to stop talking.

"What? Shouldn't you have been doing homework last night?" Cass questions Hiro, "here at home? The work?"  
"Aunt Cass, don't worry, it's me." Hiro didn't look worried one bit, "I'll improvise."  
"You mean scramble?" Wasabi questions.

"At the last minute." Gogo answers.

"Always worked in high school." Hiro shrugged it off.

"Speaking of that…" Ari lifts a finger up, "I..do not remember school, not one bit."  
"Well you still have amnesia so it's obvious," Gogo pointed out.

"No I mean that I remembered that I never went to a public school," she explained, "I remember being homeschooled, but even I at least got my work done in time." Ari glances at Hiro, who's digging into the breakfast nachos.

"Huh, well good to hear you're remembering more stuff Ariel," Cass gives her a pat on the shoulder, "remember not to push yourself too hard!" She walks off to serve the other customers in the Lucky Cat Cafe.

"Well it's good that you remembered," Wasabi smiled, "it might be a sign that your memory is returning soon."

" _Amnesia can last from six to nine_ _months._ " Baymax states.  
"I hope my memory comes back soon," Ari sighs.  
"Don't worry it will.." Hiro tells her, a smile on his face.  
"Thanks, but you should finish your homework."  
"Hey!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hey Mikan and Sara, did you guys ever go to public school?

Mikan Ferns: Yes and it was AWFUL

Sara Ferns: It was fine for me but it wasn't fine for David

Sara Ferns: "Teenagers are evil" -David

Mikan Ferns: Why do you ask?

TheLittleMermaid: No reason!

Hiro Hamada: Hey David how did you think you did on your seismic project

Sara Ferns: "I think okay, had a hard time figuring out a good formula" -David

TheLittleMermaid: Wow, at least you did the homework!  
Hiro Hamada: Ari can you please let it go

TheLittleMermaid: NEVER!

* * *

Hiro rolled his eyes, then put the phone away.

"So," he saw that David was walking up to his seat and sitting next to him, "I'm really nervous."  
"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, "you're nervous?"  
"Yeah." David nodded, "this is one of the first big projects I've had this year, I don't want to fail." he sees David was rubbing his knuckles on the table.

"I don't think you'll fail," Hiro tells him.  
"You're not worried at all?" David questions.

"Nope." he replies.

"Alright everyone, settle." They end the conversation as Professor Granville begins the class. She uses a device on her desk to activate a screen. "Good morning, I hope you used your three weeks wisely for this seismic project."  
"Totally wisely," Hiro smirks.  
"I'd be rolling my eyes at you right now.." David mutters under his breath.

Karmi was the first student to present her earthquake demon, her model was colored a lilac pink. "My prototype uses nickel titanium as a shape memory alloy, which allows it to have increased plasticity under pressure," she pokes her model as she's presenting it to Granville.  
"Very good Karmi," Granville tells her, then activates the scale, "now let's shake it and break it."

Karmi stares at her model with pride as it stands strong on the scale.

"Our goal is to withstand a 9.0 or greater on the Richter scale," Granville ups the level.

As it gets higher and higher, Karmi anticipates with glee. Until her model breaks when it was so close to passing, "uhg!" a few students were surprised as well, they thought it would be a passing grade too.

"8.5..impressive," Granville writes her score down. "But Karmi I am confident you can do better, let's see version 2.0 next week." Karmi brings her broken model back to her desk, a little bummed out it didn't pass.

"Your turn Mr. Hamada," Granville tells him to bring his model over.

He places a red painted model on the scale, "Elastomer dampers," he explains.

"Is the paint still wet on your model?" She raises an eyebrow, inspecting the model.

"No!" Hiro exclaims, "that would imply I threw it together at the last possible minute." he's nervous as he comes up with his excuse.

"God why…" David groans in the background.

"Perhaps your design will save our city from the next Great Catastrophe." Granville starts up the scale, but at about 3.0 Hiro's model starts to crack and a top piece falls off, he tries to stop it from breaking but it doesn't work. "Or not.." Granville writes down something in her notebook.

The top part falls off, the red paint sticking to Hiro's shirt, he groans and facepalms, but he now has red paint on his face. He looks at the paint on his hands, then at Granville and gives a nervous chuckle.

"And scene." Karmi smirks, having filmed the whole thing, "this is a keeper."

"David Ferns," Granville calls the next student, "your turn."

"He-heres my model Professor Granville," David stutters, placing a grey painted model on the scale, "it's titanium steel, built strong enough to last."

"Interesting choice Mr. Ferns," Granville activates the scale, "let's see if it's strong enough on the scale."

The model stands strong for awhile, but David speaks up as it's hitting 6.0, "rats it's gonna break," he huffs.  
"Hey how do you know that?" Karmi questions aloud, "it hasn't even made a-"

_Crash!_

"crack…"

"Impressive work David," Granville writes down his grade, "I look forward to seeing the improvements you'll make next week."  
"Thank you," David brings his model back to his seat. "At least mine isn't put together at the last minute.." he mutters under his breath.

Hiro just facepalms again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode has some good Fern Kid moments! And David, who doesn't love David? He's a good fellow!
> 
> Question of the week: Who do you think was talking to David at the art gala?


	18. Chapter 17: (Failure Mode) Demo Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Art! Angry David! Globby stealing art! What else will happen?

"Take a look at this Baymax." Honey Lemon was showing the robot a book about Lenore Shimamoto and was the page that talked about City Rising, "amazing..and we saved it!"

" _I do not understand the purpose of art._ " Baymax tells her.

"Well to create art is to be human," she explains, "to be alive."

" _I am neither,_ " Baymax tilts his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Honey Lemon apologises, "I mean..how can I put this in a way you'll um.." she tries to think of a way to explain to him. "It can be, you know..really good for emotional health! Like art therapy, it helps people."

" _I am coded to expand my therapeutic capabilities,_ " Baymax places his arm on his chest, " _perhaps I should increase my understanding of art._ "

"Oooh I can teach you!" Honey Lemon exclaims. "To me, art is about expressing your feelings!"

" _Do you mean like this?_ " Baymax shows on his screen the ten smiling faces when he asks a patient "on a scale of one to ten".  
"Hmm, not exactly." Honey Lemon points out, her attention turns to the lab door being opened, "Oh my god!"  
Hiro walks in, still covered in red paint, "Hiro what happened!" Honey Lemon screams, running to check on him.

" _Hiro is covered in red paint, do not be alarmed._ " Baymax tells her, " _this red paint is non-toxic._ "

"So I guess your demo wasn't a masterpiece?" Honey Lemon asks him.

"More of a disaster-piece," Hiro grumbles.

"Hey! Check out this funny video Mikan showed me!" Fred walks in, he shows a video that was filmed of Hiro's failure in class.

"Uh..Fred that's me in the video." Hiro frowns, Honey Lemon shaking her head at her friend.

"Hey! That is you!" Fred exclaims, "maybe try to imagine it's another guy! See? Now you're laughing," he then notices the expression on Hiro's face. "Wait, that's a grimace, I'm sorry."

"It's okay Hiro," Honey Lemon gives him a pat on the shoulder and tries to comfort him, "we learn more from our failures than our successes."  
"Uh you know what? It's no big deal," Hiro shrugs it off, feeling confident he'll get it right next time, "I've got a ton of better ideas I'll just do one of those!" he walks off to his lab to get to work, "the better ones!"

" _Optimism,_ " Baymax states.

* * *

Later in the day, Hiro thought he'd check on David and ask him for any advice on his seismic project. He thought of using a maglev isolation system, until Gogo told him that was what she did when she was a freshman. So he tossed the idea out, and was on his way to David and Sara's shared lab.

"Hey David," he knocked on the door and went in, David was at work making edits to his model. But he didn't hear Hiro over the noise of him using his tools.  
"Hey David!" Hiro yells a little louder, that got his attention, David stops working and steps back from his model.

"Oh, hey Hiro," he takes off his goggles, there were bags under his topaz eyes, "shouldn't you be working on your demo as well? You did way worse than me."  
"I'm just taking a little break," Hiro grumbles, not needing a reminder of his failure. "Thought I'd ask you for advice."

"Hmm," David hums, "not much I can tell you for tips, only that you shouldn't copy someone's project, doesn't give you a better grade."  
"Huh, okay," Hiro nods, "hey uh..how did you predict that your model was going to break exactly when it did?"  
"Well," David chuckles, "I might be blind but my hearing is sharp, I heard my model starting to break on the inside and knew it would crack soon."  
"That's... really impressive, David." he exclaims, "I better get back to work, good luck with your project!"  
"Thanks Hiro!" David smiles, "if you need any help you can always come to me for advice, us first-semester freshman need to work together!"

"I will!" and he exits the lab door, on his way back to his lab however, he ran into an annoying someone.

"Still drying from the wet paint Genius Boy?" Karmi asked him, he just rolled his eyes.  
"For your information, I am just on my way back to finish my project," he huffed, "which will do much better than your 'nickel titanium' in every way."

"Suuuure," Karmi chuckled, "I'm looking forward to seeing it in class."

"Wow, you're terrible at sarcasm," he notes.

"Well I've been working less on my sarcasm and actually doing the work in class!" Karmi exclaimed, starting to walk away. "That's why you don't take shortcuts!"  
He watches her walk away, puzzled by her last statement. "Weirdo," it didn't matter anyway, he already had thought of an idea that would guarantee success.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Honey Lemon: Hey Hiro are you okay?

Hiro Hamada: Uhhhhg, no

Honey Lemon: Sorry!  
Hiro Hamada: Its fine, thank you for telling me that you already did a quick flexible foam for your seismic project

TheLittleMermaid: Maybe don't take shortcuts Hiro!  
Hiro Hamada: Did you get that from Karmi?

TheLittleMermaid: No…?

Mikan Ferns: Did she say the same thing, wow great minds do think alike

Mikan Ferns: And actually do their homework

Hiro Hamada: Shut up Mikan!

Honey Lemon: Guys cool it D :, don't be mean!

* * *

"Hey Hiro, are you okay?" Ari was checking in on him after noticing his behavior for the past few days, he was frustrated with..something.

"I'm alright, but my latest demo is a bust," Hiro grumbles, gesturing to the model he tossed in the trash can. Ari went over to get a closer look.  
"What's this?" she questioned, it looked like an average model but there was an airbag on the bottom.

"A model with high strength airbags.." Hiro hits his head on the desk, "turns out my brother did the exact same thing when he was a freshman."  
"Ouch," Ari winces, "I'm sure you'll figure something out, just keep trying!"  
"I know, Wasabi and Honey Lemon said the same thing to me awhile ago," Hiro sighed, "I'm just super tired."

"Me too," Ari took a seat next to him, "I'm tired of not knowing who I am."

Hiro gave her a puzzled look, so she took a deep breath and explained. "I'm tired of having freaking amnesia, I know that I've been remembering some more stuff lately but it's so slow! And cryptic! One day I remember some of my family the next of something stupid! Like looking through random facts on the internet." She brings a hand to her head, "I just wanna know who I am, and where my family is."  
"You're Ariel Rosemary," Hiro speaks up, she turns to look at him. "You're very supportive of me, and the others, your smile and cheery attitude brings a smile in our lives. Even though you forgot a lot of things, you still keep that positive attitude wherever you go, so cheer up."  
"Thanks Hiro," she gives him a hug, "I'm so glad you're my friend," though sometimes she felt like Hiro was something more than a friend but it was something to think about for another day.

"You're welcome," he hugs back, "well I better get back to working on my demo."  
"Alright," she turns to leave the lab, "remember you got this Hiro!" He smiles, she was right, he's got this.

* * *

"I've got nothing." Hiro couldn't come up with anything for the demo, so he had to tell Granville he was empty-handed.

She writes down something in her notebook. Dejected, Hiro walks back to his desk and tosses his notebook to the side. But the notebook hits another student's model.  
"Ah!" he exclaims as the model starts to shake, the shaking causes the model to activate its airbag which hits the model next to it. And it causes a domino effect as students models start being activated and hitting each other. He flinches as all the models start causing chaos, and then he's knocked onto the ground with a model with legs.

"Got it," Karmi chuckles, recording what was going on, a few other students were filming as well.

"Professor Granville I am so, so sorry." Hiro turns to Granville, who has a neutral expression on her face, "it was an accident."

The model with legs bumps into a table, which causes someone else's model to fall off the desk, "Hey!" It was David's model. He goes to pick it up, but then feels the cracks as his model was broken by the fall.  
"Dammit!" he yells, the harshness of his yelling causes the nearby students to flinch and step away, including Hiro who was about to be on the receiving end of his anger.

"Do you know how many hours I spent constructing this Hiro?!" David stomps over, holding his broken model in his hands, his eyes were full of rage. "I'm going to have to start all over again because of your recklessness! Try to be considerate of other people for once!"  
Hiro couldn't speak up, he was frightened by how angry David was..he was always so good natured, he didn't believe anger was an emotion David could feel.

"C-calm down." Karmi speaks up, trying to get David to stop yelling, but instead he turns on her.  
"You stay out of this!" he hisses, Karmi takes a few steps back in fear. "Why don't you just leave? You have a knack for being by yourself, so act on it like you always do!"  
"Mr. Ferns!" Granville speaks up, having heard enough, "control your temper, and knock it off."

David in response grumbles and goes back to his seat, not wanting to test Granville. She turns to the rest of the students, "you are all dismissed to repair your models, except you Mr. Hamada, I'd like to have a word."

As the students pick up their broken models and leave class to fix them back up, Hiro glances at David. _He was so angry.._ then he turned to Karmi, whose model was one of the few that didn't get broken in all the chaos, and notices the glum expression on her face as she picks up her model. _What David said must've gotten to her, I don't like Karmi but even that was cruel.._ then he sighs and walks up to Granville.  
"Mr. Hamada, is something going on with you?" she questions, "you usually don't give up on things like this."  
"I'm just..no good at this." Hiro frowns.

"Mr. Hamada, I'm the one who tells people they're no good. Don't take my favorite part of the job away." Granville jokes, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.  
"Well, go ahead, enjoy." Hiro glances away from his professor, having given up at this point.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm not letting you off that easy. You are going to rise to this challenge!"

"But what if I'm not really good at this? What if I fail again?" Hiro questions her.  
"Then you fail again, after which, you try again." she replies.

"Professor G?" Karmi walks up with her model in her hands, "my new prototype is ready to go! But if you want Hiro to say he's no good a few more times, totally your call!"  
Hiro rolled his eyes, "haha, very funny Karmi." He sneered at her. "Quit poking fun at the fact that I'm a failure."

His harsh words surprised her. "Well, then maybe you should prove me wrong," she tells him. They both glare at each other until Granville speaks up.

"You two can have your discussion after class," Granville tells them, they both looked away from each other.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Honey Lemon and Baymax were at the San Fransokyo Museum of Art to watch City Rising being placed back on the wall.  
"Ooh this is so exciting Baymax!" Honey Lemon exclaims, "City Rising is back where it's supposed to be!"

"Don't worry," the security guard tells them, "nobody's getting it on my watch, not this time." he places a red velvet rope around the painting for protection.

"Hey hey hey!" Sara walks up to them, waving finger guns, "what's cooking Honey Lemon?"  
"Hey Sara!" Honey Lemon waves at her and smiles, "you seeing City Rising as well?"  
"Yep, I hope Globby doesn't come back," Sara replies, "what would a globby monster want with a priceless painting?"  
"I don't know, but he shouldn't steal it." she frowns.

" _Hello Sara_ ," Baymax waves, " _your stress levels are elevated, would you like a hug?_ "

"Oh I could use one right now thanks," Sara gives him a hug, feeling more relaxed as Baymax patted her head.

"You okay Sara?" Honey Lemon raises an eyebrow.  
"Yeah..it's just David," she sighs, "he's been really moody since his blood mother was arrested, he even snapped at the teen geniuses in class today!"  
"Oh no," Honey Lemon gasps, "I hope he feels better soon."  
"Me too, but he shouldn't take his anger out on the kids," Sara grumbles, "I'm gonna make him apologize later, he said some hurtful things to Hiro and Karmi."  
"Hmm, do you want to join Baymax and I as we look around the museum?" she offers, "I'm going to teach Baymax about art!"  
"Eh sure," Sara shrugs, "I do love looking at the pretty pictures."

They walk around the museum, with Honey Lemon attempting to teach Baymax about art, however the robot kept looking at it from a medical standpoint. Which was starting to make Honey Lemon frustrated, Sara just watched, then she noticed Fred walking by.

"Hey Fred!" she waved, he didn't give a verbal response but he waved back. "Whatcha lookin at?" she saw him walking over to a corner of the room. Where a stuffy art critiquer with a mustache was looking at the melted water fountain.

"'Caution: Water Hazard' such a bold statement about the futility of existence," the critic declared, "I would give anything to meet the genius of this masterpiece."

Fred then steps in, "Allow me to introduce myself, Frederick Fredrickson the Fourth, master of this piece."  
"Really?" Sara raised an eyebrow, Fred made that?

The critic gasps, "A pleasure sir, you have moved me." he gives a gentleman's kiss to Fred's hand.  
"Cool," Fred smiles at the praise.

" _Is this also art?_ " Baymax questions.

"Well, duh, of course it is!" Fred places his hands on his hips.  
"Well duh indeed!" the critic mimics his movement.

Honey Lemon sighs, she drags Baymax away, "maybe that's enough for today."

Sara follows after them, "wait for me!"

They don't get very far, as a faint "ow" sound is heard but not loud enough for the healthcare companion to pick it up.  
"Did you hear that?" Honey Lemon looked around for the source of the noise.  
" _Art must be seen, felt, and heard?_ " Baymax questions, " _art is..complicated._ "

The source of the noise falls out of the vent, "woah..owww!" and falls on top of the rather spiky sculpture.  
"Dangit Globby!" Sara exclaims at the sight of the glob monster, "stop trying to rob the museum!"

"Don't touch!" the security guard tells him, "that's all I'm paid to say, 'don't touch' I did my job. Everybody saw it, now out of my way!" he runs out of the museum.  
"Yeah I'm out!" Sara also runs for the exit, too focused on getting out to realize that Honey Lemon, Baymax, and Fred, were not following suit.

* * *

"Yeah he's over here," Ari pointed to the garage, where Hiro was trying to brainstorm an idea for his seismic project.  
"Thanks Ari," Gogo told her, she and Wasabi were starting to get concerned for Hiro, so they were going to check up on him. They walk into the garage, just as Hiro tosses a paper ball, but Gogo catches it and opens it only to find it was blank. "Did you just crumple up and throw away a blank piece of paper?" she questioned.

"I was just trying to save some time," he takes it from her hand, "I would've thrown it out anyways if I did have something on it."

"Okay," Gogo raises one of her arms, "this is gonna hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me."

"What are you doing?" Wasabi grabs her hand.

"Slapping him out of it," she replies.

"You can't do that!"

"You got a better idea?"  
"Hmm," Wasabi clears his throat. " _Oh Hiiiiro stop your fretting, Hirooo!_ " He sings in opera style, it shocks Hiro so much he falls out of his chair.

Gogo stares at him with wide eyes, "what was that?"

"Consider it a musical slap to the face," he replies.

"Oh..I do," Gogo's phone rings and she reads the message, "Globby's back."  
"Let's go!" Hiro gets back up and punches Wasabi in the shoulder.

"Um..one problem, my car is still stuck at the bottom of the bay," Wasabi explains. It had been left there after the terrifying chase with Cal..the masked villain villain they labeled "Yokai", he didn't want to think about that right now.  
"How are we supposed to get there then?" Hiro questions.  
"I have a rental car," Wasabi tells them, "come on let's go suit up and meet the others."

* * *

The drive to the museum was peaceful up until Gogo hijacked the rental car's circuits to make it go at a supersonic speed, when they got to the museum they all got out of the car panting.  
"Tell me you brought our super suits!" Fred exclaims, in response Wasabi opens the back trunk which has Fred, Baymax, and Honey Lemon's suits.

Wasabi goes to get them out, "it's a little tight.." he struggles to get them out of the trunk.

"Where's Globby?" Hiro questions.

"He's got the Shimamoto, but the museum's on lockdown," Honey Lemon answers him.

"So he's trapped inside?" Gogo raises an eyebrow.

"Subpar villain's gonna subpar," Fred gestures with his arms.

Behind them Wasabi exclaims, "ah! Got a helmet!" He tosses it at Fred, who is knocked into the ground.

As they put on their superhero suits, Baymax lifts up the metal door. Globby had tried to use the sharp sculpture as a battering ram, but since the door opened he ended up tripping down the stairs.  
"Oh, watch your step!" Fred exclaims as he rolls down the stairs and the sharp sculpture punctures him. Everyone winces at the glob monster's painful fall. "Ouch…" Fred winces.

"Ya think?" Globby reforms himself and sneers in a sarcastic manner.  
"He's going for the painting!" Honey Lemon exclaims as Globby stretches his arms and snatches City Rising yet again.

"Well he's got stick-to-it-iveness," Gogo notes.

"Aha!" Globby throws globs at Wasabi who deflects it with his plasma blades, Fred jumps behind Globby and Honey Lemon throws a chem ball.

"Nope!" Globby grabs the chem ball and throws it at Fred, which causes him to freeze, "not today!"

He then turns into a ball and starts to bounce away, "oh no you don't!" Wasabi tries to block him but Globby rolls on top of him. "Uhg..I got some in my mouth," he gags at the bad taste on his mouth.  
"Spit it out and let's go after this blob," Gogo skates over and then goes after Globby.

"Get him Gogo! I know you can!" Honey Lemon tosses her a chem ball as she skates after the glob monster.  
"Right behind you," Hiro gets on top of Baymax and flies after her.

Wasabi notices Fred is still frozen and cuts him out with his plasma blades, "thank you Wasabi!" Fred then gestures for him to get on his back, "climb on!"

"Alright," Wasabi climbs on his back, "just don't jump-"  
Fred leaps into the air, "too hiiiiiigh!"

* * *

As Globby rolls down the street he bounces with joy, "Hehe!" he dodges a chem ball.

 _Bounce_.

"I did it!"

_Bounce._

"My first successful art heist!"

_Bounce._

"Who's a subpar villain now!"  
 _Bounce_.

"I'm-"

_Thud._

He hits Baymax and splatters on his chestplate, " _that painting does not belong to you._ " the robot tells him.

"And thank you for returning it," Hiro snatches the painting from Globby's grasp, the glob monsters splatters into a puddle on the ground.

"Oh that is just not fair.." Globby grumbles, reforming his top half, "why do I even try anymore.."

Gogo shakes over, "Honey, let's freeze him and seize him."  
Honey Lemon drives the rental car and tosses a chem ball at Globby.

"Aaah!" Globby ducks, his body turning into water before the chem ball can freeze him, and he slips into the nearby drain.

"Did he just...melt?" Gogo questions.  
"Well that's new," Fred lands behind her, with Wasabi still clinging to him like a koala, "and concerning.."

* * *

Elsewhere, Globby exits in the drain at the city outskirts. "I can into water now?!" he reforms into his humanoid globby shape, "wonder what else I could do?"

"Hmmm, metal!" he tries to imagine his arm turning into metal, the neurotransmitter on his head beeping as it happens, but the weight of the metal causes his arm to clang to the ground, "ouch!" he turns it back to normal, "it worked at least, what else can I do?"

"Ice!"

"Rock!"

"Chocolate! Mhmmm!"

"Wood! Mmmm ahhh!...maybe not that…" It made his balance unstable and he fell.

"Brick! Ow!"

"Chocolate! Mhmmm! Double mhmm!"

"Cookie dough!"  
"Cotton candy!"  
"Chocolate! With ice cream! And caramel!"

"And whipped cream!" he tries to spray whip cream but it doesn't come out, he inspects his finger and the whipped cream hits him, "ow!..whipped cream in my eye!"

"Mhhhmm, I'm delicious," Globby enjoys the chocolate with ice cream he created.

"This could be very useful.." He turns his arm into a hammer and breaks the sewer vent.  
"And powerful...very powerful.." Globby gives an evil smirk, Big Hero 6 was in for a surprise next encounter…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed all the extra Karmi moments I added. Her rivalry with Hiro is very amusing n.n, hopefully I was able to write it as playful banter.


	19. Chapter 18: (Failure Mode) Discouragement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro almost quits the demo project. He finds encouragement from Ari, Baymax, and even Globby.  
> Speaking of the glob monster, he steals the portrait again.  
> A villain's name gets revealed.

Next day at SFIT's Robotic labs, Hiro was whistling an old show tune as he grabbed materials to bring to his lab.

"Well looks like somebody's in a good mood," Wasabi noted his happy behavior.

"Yeah, we crushed our last mission!" Hiro exclaimed, "we scared Globby so hard he literally wet himself!"

"Hiro?" Honey Lemon speaks up, "not exactly." The others head over to her table, where she's applying a chemical mixture to a sample of Globby's...globs, and monitoring the change on her computer.

"The volatile chemicals that made him 'Globby' combined with the neurotransmitter, well Globby must've figured out how his thoughts can control his...globbiness?"

"He can turn into anything?" Wasabi widened his eyes, "that subpar villain is on his way to being a supervillain."  
"I don't care if he's a solid, liquid, or gas," Hiro shrugs, "we can take him, we've beaten him before and we can do it again."  
"I hope he does not turn into a gas," Wasabi is disgusted at the thought, "gross.."  
"Hey? Where's Fred?" Hiro looks around and the comic/kaiju fan is nowhere in the labs today.  
"Keeping watch at the museum, in case Globby strikes again," Gogo explains, "though most likely he's going to keep watch on that water fountain sculpture he made."

"Oh," Hiro hummed, "well anyways it feels nice to be good at something again, I really needed that." He grabs a tray and starts collecting materials.  
"So you're finally ready to step up and crush that earthquake demo?" Gogo questioned

"Totally ready," Hiro doesn't look back to answer, instead continues to put items on the tray.

"Well, you're not going to just blow it off," Wasabi raised an eyebrow.  
"I haven't considered that, but.."  
"No no no!" Wasabi cuts him off, "forget I said anything! Stop looking like you're considering it Hiro!"

"I'm not," Hiro's about to leave the lab with his tray on a cart, but Honey Lemon causes him to halt.

"Wait Hiro! You can't quit!"  
"Yeah do you really want to be known as a genius quitter?" Gogo adds in.  
"No, but at least genius quitters are probably the best kind of quitters right?" Hiro shrugged, still not thinking of trying again, he'd just fail..so why even bother?

"I get it..you think that if you give up, it doesn't count as failing, but in actuality, it's worse." Wasabi accuses, pointing a finger at Hiro.

Baymax during all of this was painting something, he stops to glance at Hiro, " _Tadashi, failed eighty three times before I functioned properly._ "

"Well maybe I'm not as smart as my brother!" Hiro exclaims, "you ever think of that?!" he pushes past the others and the door slams behind him as he leaves.

"Oh dear," Honey Lemon frowns, "one of us should go talk to him."  
The door opens again and Ari walks in, she picks up the tense mood in an instant, "okay what happened?"  
"Hiro," they all answer.  
"Is this about the demo thing?"  
"Yes," all of them answer again.  
"Hmm," Ari hums, then walks up to Baymax who's finishing up his painting. "What are you doing?"  
" _I am painting,_ " Baymax tells her, " _perhaps art therapy would be beneficial to Hiro's emotional state._ "  
Ari glances at the painting then back at Baymax, "let's go find Hiro and snap him out of it...again," she drags the robot with her out of the lab. When they leave, the others go look at Baymax's painting.  
"Gah!" Wasabi exclaims as it's the skeletons of him, Gogo, Honey Lemon, and Hiro that Baymax painted, "should I be worried here?"  
"He's painting what he knows?" Honey Lemon gives a small smile, "he's still getting the hang of what art is."

* * *

Back at his lab, Hiro was typing away on the computer.  
"Hiro?" he doesn't glance as he hears Ari and Baymax enter his lab.  
" _Hiro, it is alright to become discouraged,_ " Baymax tells him.

"Guys, I don't want to talk right-"  
" _Tadashi Hamada, test number fifty eight, Robotics project._ " Hiro whipped his head around at the voice of his older brother, Baymax had pulled up another one of Tadashi's test videos on his screen. Ari was also looking at the screen with wide eyes.

In the video, Baymax activates, " _Hello, I am Baymax._ " His brother had a joyful grin on his face, " _your personal healthcare-_ "

All of a sudden, flames appear visible on the sides of Baymax's screen. " _No!_ " Tadashi runs and gets a fire extinguisher to put out the burning robot.

" _Why?! Why do I put myself through this fifty eight times?!_ " Tadashi starts pacing around the room, his hand to his head as he's frustrated. " _Maybe this'll never work..maybe I should give up.._ "

Hiro had wide eyes, he had never heard Tadashi so discouraged in his life! He always remembered back when he still was a bot fighter, time and time again Tadashi would try to get him to stop until the time it did. Seeing his brother feeling the same thing he was feeling with the earthquake demo felt so...alien.

The video still plays, Tadashi walks up to the robot and notices the tape still rolling, " _you're not still recording are you?_ " he pokes the screen and the video ends.

"I never saw him like that." Hiro sighs.

"He has a deeper voice than I expected," Ari speaks up, he glances at her, "fifty eight times..that's dedication."

" _There were, eighty four total tests before I functioned properly,_ " Baymax speaks up, " _failure was the result of eighty three of those tests._ "

"Was he always like that?" Ari asks him, "never giving up?"  
Hiro nods, "yeah..he always tried getting me to apply to SFIT, and when I was stuck on what to do for the showcase he helped me look for a new angle. When we worked on the presentation project he always talked about how I'd love the school because of all the technology and that there were so many nice people.." Hiro sighs, holding his head down.  
"Hey Hiro.." He glanced back up at Ari, "do you think…your brother and I would get along?"  
Hiro hums, he never thought about that before. "I think Tadashi would love you, and the two of you would probably berate me over things."  
"Like not running a diagnostic test which causes a robot skeleton to malfunction? Or letting this silly demo beat you?" Ari raised an eyebrow.  
"Hey!'' Hiro gives her a light punch on the shoulder, "see? You both would get along great!"  
"I wish I got to meet him," she stares at the picture of Tadashi and Hiro on his lab table, "it feels so weird being the only person not to know him on a personal level," there was a hint of jealousy in her tone.

The door opens, and they turn around to see Wasabi and Gogo. "Fred just called, the museum decided to put City Rising into storage," Wasabi tells him.

"Wise move," Hiro commented.  
"That means it's in a truck crossing the city," Gogo pointed out.

"Not so wise move," he shakes his head.  
"Yikes," Ari winces, "someone should call the superheroes on that, maybe Fred, he seems like the fellow who has a superhero hotline."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Fredilicous24: No Ari I do not have a superhero hotline I have a superhero spotlight

TheLittleMermaid: Close enough : (

Gogo: Oh calm down the painting will be fine, no way would Big Hero 6 let Globby get his hands on it

Sara Ferns: If he ruins any part he's about to catch these hands : )

Wasabi: Woah, didn't know you liked City Rising so much

Sara Ferns: It captures a historical moment of our city! And Lenore Shimamoto made it so it's 10x better

Honey Lemon: Shimamoto's art is so inspiring!

Fredilicous24: And it moves people, I do like the color scheme the painting has

TheLittleMermaid: Hey Sara, how's David?

Sara Ferns: Still moody even after a day, he says he's sorry for what he said Hiro

Hiro Hamada: It's fine, but seeing him angry was a little scary

TheLittleMermaid: I'm not scared of David, I'm not scared of anything!  
Gogo: What about eels?

TheLittleMermaid: Don't even mention those things!

* * *

"Aha!" It was late at night, and Globby was attacking the truck that had the valuable City Rising painting as it's cargo. The driver of the truck swerved to avoid the globs thrown at the vehicle, the truck tires screeching and the painting shifting inside the vehicle as it's moving left and right. Globby threw a glob at the road, the truck skids and slides and hits a lamp, causing the horn to blare. He sticks to the front window of the truck and yells at the driver, scaring him off. Then he sits up and stands on the top of the truck.  
"Acid!" he drops the volatile green substance on top of the truck and creates a small hole. Globby removes the locks on the City Rising painting and lifts it into the air. "Ha! Got it!" He exclaims, staring at the painting.

"Don't you ever get tired of losing?" Globby lifts it down and sees Big Hero 6, it was Hiro who asked that question, riding on top of Baymax as usual. Turning around he sees he's surrounded on all sides of the truck.

"No," he laughs, using extra limbs created on his back to grab the painting and stick it on his backside, "I think today's my lucky day."  
"Aw! I love your positive attitude!" Honey Lemon exclaims, "sorry about this." She creates a chem ball and tosses it at Globby.

"Aha!" he bounces it back at her using his body, the chem ball hits her purse and deactivates it, the chemicals messing with the wiring inside. Honey Lemon stares at her broken purse in horror.

Globby steps off of the truck, Gogo skates after him, he turns around. "Careful! I heard the pavements a little rough!" he slams his hands on the ground, creating a line of rocky crystals that knocks Gogo off her balance and causes her to fall on the crystals.

"Time for a meltdown!" Fred leaps from building to building and blasts fire at Globby, who deflects it with a metal shield created from his left hand.

"Eh, shut your firehole!" he throws something green and sticky at the mouth of Fred's suit, which muffles him and prevents him from using his flames. Then Globby throws wet concrete at his feet which stops him from jumping.  
"I got you buddy!" Wasabi runs to his stuck friend, but then Globby creates chem balls of his own and throws them at Wasabi as he's about to cut the sticky stuff on Fred.

"C'mon Baymax! It's up to us!" Hiro tells the robot as they're flying above Globby and witnessed all of their friends get taken down single-handedly.

" _We will protect the art that is valuable for some reason,_ " Baymax fires his rocket fist at Globby, who deflects it by turning his arm into a slinky and redirecting the rocket fist onto the ground. Which causes an explosion that knocks back Big Hero 6 and causes globs to fly everywhere, a piece hits Baymax on the sensors and Hiro falls off, " _Oh no._ "

Hiro's fall is broken by a pile of globs he landed into, and slides right in front of a metal block just as Baymax crashes to the ground nearby.  
The metal wall reforms into Globby, he laughs as he stares down at Hiro. "If at first you don't succeed, learn to turn yourself into chocolate!" he creates a chocolate bar and gives to Hiro, "enjoy! Catch ya later Big Hero 6! Gotta bounce!" he gives an evil laugh as he turns into a spring and bounces away with City Rising still stuck to his back.

* * *

Hiro tosses the chocolate bar to the side of the road, he didn't need a supervillain's pity chocolate.

"Oh no that was awful!" Honey Lemon frowns, still stuck in goop, Hiro goes over to get her unstuck.

"I know, 'gotta bounce?' I mean it fits but come on! Dig a little deeper Globby!" Fred complained, he was stuck in goop as well.

"We failed," Hiro manages to get Honey Lemon free, who's emotionally distressed about Globby stealing the painting. "Worst of all, _I_ failed Lenore Shimamoto!" She was borderline on tears.  
"Honey Lemon calm down," Fred tries to comfort her, "that kind of talk makes us sound like losers."

"Well we did lose," Wasabi pointed out, him and Gogo were dangling upside down, the latter trying to escape the goopy grip.

"Oh, come on guys! It's not the end of the world!" Hiro exclaims, staring at his teammates in shock of their bummed out behavior. "Look at Globby," he points to the direction the glob monster bounced away, "he failed again and again but figured it out, eventually."  
Gogo and Wasabi exchange glances, as Hiro was speaking like they were to him a few days ago.

"It's okay to get discouraged, but you have to pick yourself up and try again." He had a smile as he spoke, realizing what his friends and professor were trying to teach him all this time as he struggled on his seismic project.

"That's a great speech Hiro," Wasabi tells him, "but can you please get us down?!" him and Gogo were still stuck upside down, "I'm about to pass out.."  
"Oh right sorry," Hiro gets on top of Baymax and helps get his friends down.

"Took you long enough to figure out the meaning behind us pep talk-ing you back into action," Gogo chuckles, "you ready to face that seismic project now?"  
"Yeah," Hiro nods, "I think I am this time."

* * *

As Hiro worked on his seismic project, his friends were checking up on him. He also paid attention to their conversations as he worked. From Fred getting a million dollars from his art and giving the check to the museum, to Baymax having an understanding of what art is then asking what poetry is, and Honey Lemon telling the robot it was a topic for another day.

A knock on his door brought his attention, but the visitor was not who he expected.  
"Oh, hey Mikan," he waved, "are you looking for David or Sara?"  
"No," she shook her head, there was an awkward silence, it was just them in his lab now, his friends and Baymax were somewhere else.

"Is there any reason you came to visit?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"Um, a little," Mikan shrugged, "I heard you finally stopped feeling sorry for yourself and you're getting back to trying again at the seismic project."  
"Yeah? I'm doing that right now," Hiro narrowed his eyes, "if you want to say something then stop dancing around the issue Mikan." It was always a song and dance talking to her, the unofficial member of the Fern family who peered from the shadows.

"Well enough on that," she shrugged, "how do you feel about your friend Ari?"  
He blinked, "wh-what?"  
"You claim she's a friend but she's more than that," Mikan explains, "though clearly it's anything but romance, you got any clue or do I have to hint to you."  
"Of course she's a friend!" Hiro exclaims, stepping away from his demo, "she's as close to me as Gogo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Fred, and Baymax! What are you talking about?!"

Mikan shakes her head, "oh Hiro, you dense noodle."  
"You're as close to her as you were to Tadashi.."

His eyes widened at the mention of his brother, he just gasped at Mikan with his jaw open.  
"Oh gosh you really are clueless," Mikan rolls her eyes, "mmmm it's not fun just telling you, so good talk!"

She leaves the lab, "Good luck on your project!" He stares at the door in silence after she leaves.  
"What on earth was that about?" Hiro shakes his head, "jeez Mikan is so weird."

* * *

There's a heavy feeling in the air as Hiro's demo was on the scale. Granville begins to test the model, a smile on her face as the scale starts going up.

Hiro smirks at his project, behind him Karmi has her phone whipped out prepared for another hilarious failure as it had been for the last few attempts. As the model vibrates, two mechanical parts appear on the side and press down on the scale.

"What?" Karmi raises an eyebrow, not expecting that to happen.  
"My building has sensors to measure the seismic forces, then it sends out the exact sonic pulses needed to counteract them," Hiro explains. Granville glances at the scales at goes from 6.0 back to zero.  
"So your solution is cheating?" Karmi gestures to the model.

"No," he turns to face her, "my design withstood the shaking by dealing with the problem at its source."

Granville walks over to the model, "not only would this structure save itself, but it would also save the other buildings around it." She writes the score down in her notebook, "this is an excellent solution."  
"Uhg!" Karmi exclaims, now it's Hiro's turn to have his phone out, he snaps a picture of Karmi's puzzled face.  
"And scene," he smirks, he noticed that David was not in class, "Professor Granville? Where's David?"  
"Mister Ferns is having his project graded at a separate time," Granville explains, "perhaps a more isolated environment will prevent any class outbursts, he will be making a formal apology to you both after his project receives its score."

"Is David in trouble?" Karmi questions, he found it odd she was asking about it, she wasn't friends with David after all.  
"Why do you care?" Hiro narrows his eyes at her.

"I don't!" she glares, "I'm asking because Ari was curious!" However it sounded suspicious, Ari could just ask Sara or Mikan about it.

"Uh-huh."  
She just huffed. "He's annoying and doesn't respect personal space, but he's a good person. He shouldn't get punished for one hissy fit."  
You do have a point there Karmi.. Hiro didn't voice the thought aloud.

"He will not receive any formal punishment for his behavior, however he has been given a warning." Granville explains, "if that is all, Karmi please present your model."  
As Karmi goes to get her model from her desk, Hiro says something to her, "you'll probably pass."  
"What's that's supposed to mean?" she frowns at him.  
"Well your project is not as good as mine, but it'll at least pass," Hiro shrugs.  
"For your information my demo will do better than yours!" Karmi exclaims.

"Sure, good luck," Hiro picks up his demo and goes back to his seat.

Granville has a smile on her face during their exchange, ah to be young and full of fire.

* * *

However, as this was going on, there was another meeting happening in an abandoned building. The front of the building was covered by a purple glob, which then slips under the door to let himself in.  
"Oh why couldn't he just pick an alley?!" Globby grumbled as he entered, "less of a hazard to enter," he realizes that his globs were stuck on the City Rising painting. He tried to wipe them off but it just kept getting more globs attached.

"Well?" his eyes widened, in the corner of the room were a pair of cold blue eyes, "did you bring it?" the man stands up, revealing a slender male with pale skin, his hair was black with a red streak.

"Ahh!" Globby yelps, the stare giving him chills, "oh, uh, yeah, here it is." As the man walks over he hands him the City Rising painting.  
"You've succeeded," he grins at the painting.  
"Sorry about..y'know, the globs," Globby apologized.

The man stares at the globs, "huh, fascinating." He grabs Globby's arm and cuts a sample for himself using a plasma knife.

"Ow!' Globby recoils from the pain, "rude!"

"Hmm," he stares at the glob sample in a beaker, "further study might unlock more potential," he glances back at Globby.

"Potential huh?" there's a smirk on the glob monster's face, "I told mom she was wrong about me!" Then brings his attention back to the man.

"Lenore Shimamoto the artist is no use to me," he smashes the frame of the City Rising painting. "Ehh!" Globby shields his eyes from the wooden debris.

"However Lenore Shimamoto the scientist is of great interest," he rips a chunk of the frame away. "Like so many things in life, you have to look beneath the surface to find real value," he peels away the painting, to reveal blueprints underneath, placed there by Shimamoto herself.  
"So," he turns to Globby, "have you thought of my offer?"  
"Well you and your kid did teach me how to turn into a ball so...yeah!" Globby nods, "I'll join your team Mr. uh…" he realizes he never got the name of the man, only that he paid him to steal the City Rising painting.

"You may call me Obake," the man smirks as the left side of his face glows a violet hue in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18 chapters in and the big bad's name has been revealed! Dun dun dunnn. XD


	20. Chapter 19: Coffee Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The characters take a break from the action. And one of them does a favor for their father.

"Your coffee is amazing as ever Cass."  
"Oh thank you Detective Rosemary! I try to do my best!"

A usual morning in the Lucky Cat Cafe, it was past the morning rush and a handful of customers were in the cafe. One of those customers was the famous detective Elio Rosemary, enjoying a nice cup of french vanilla coffee.  
"I must be honest, my daughter Rachel encouraged me to go to this cafe," Elio takes a sip of his coffee, "she told me that your pastries were delightful, and of course they were rather addicting back at the Bro-Tillion. Personally I liked the party being hosted here rather than at a stuffy ball, a tuxedo is not as comfortable as it looks and I think the bro of the hour liked a more casual party as well."  
"Well I try to give good customer service," Cass smiles.

"By the way," Elio looks around the cafe, "I noted that your little helper isn't on staff today, my daughter is friends with her and she mentioned them a few times."  
"Oh you mean Ariel?" Cass raised an eyebrow, "Oh, she's a real sweetheart! I told her she didn't have to help me in the cafe but she insists!"  
"So I assume she's living at your place?" Elio notes.  
"Well, yeah," Cass gives a nod, "where else would she go? My nephew brought her in one night, poor dear couldn't remember a thing and thought of herself as a burden, I couldn't just do nothing."  
Elio narrows his eyes, as if he's thinking of something. "That was kind of you, most adults wouldn't care about a child's suffering, has miss Ariel remembered anything yet? If not then it _is_ a problem."  
"A few things," Cass explains, "I'm rather worried for her, there hasn't been any news of a missing girl with Ari's description."

"Oh?" Elio raised an eyebrow.  
"She told me that she remembers a little bit of her parents, not who they are but mostly family activities," Cass has a look of sadness, "I'm worried that maybe..the reason her parents haven't gone looking is.."  
"That they've either abandoned her or they're dead," Elio finishes, as well as swallowing the rest of his french vanilla.  
"Do you think since you're a detective you could look into it?" Cass requests, "I've started to care for Ariel a lot and it would be wonderful if there was some good news for her."

"Hmm, well I'll try," he tells her, "it's not an official case so I'd only be able to do it when I'm able, however my daughter is a little detective herself so maybe she'd be able to pick out some clues."

"Well thank you for at least trying," Cass smiles, "would you like more coffee?"  
"Sure," Elio smiles, "and could I have it to go? I have to get going soon, oh and maybe add a blueberry muffin, for Sarah."  
"Of course," she goes over to fulfill the order, refilling him a cup of coffee to go and getting him a blueberry muffin in a paper bag.  
"Oh and Cass?" She glances over, as he's about to leave. "You're a very good person for looking after Ariel like that, if worse-case scenario the news about her parents is bad, at least she has you to look after her."  
Cass smiles at the compliment, "thank you, and have a good day Detective Rosemary!"  
He smirks as he leaves, "you can just call me Elio," and he exits the cafe.

"Well, that was nice of him." Cass notes, "I wonder where Ari is anyways, Mikan picked her up about an hour ago, maybe they're shopping or something."

* * *

At SFIT (where Mikan and Ari weren't), was David and Sara, the former standing by a door as Sara stands a few feet away.  
"Oh, would you stop hesitating," Sara tells him, "you were bad, now accept the consequences and just knock already?!"

"I'm reciting what I'm gonna say," David excuses, he was actually nervous but he didn't let it show, "I'm going to knock, you can go now."  
"No way!" Sara exclaims, "I'm keeping watch so I know you don't bolt a corner the second I go out of sight."  
"You mean out of hearing."  
"Same thing!"  
David chuckles, he hears Sara move a couple footsteps away, perhaps the hallway corner so she's out of sight but not out of hearing range. He takes a deep breath, and knocks on the lab door.

As the door opens, he hears the lab owner's tired breathing, and silence.

"Hey, Karmi." David greets first, "I um..wanted to apologize."  
"Oh," she replies, "go on."  
"I'm sorry for snapping at you in class the other day, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, and I'm sorry." He's sincere as he speaks, because he truly was sorry for yelling at her and Hiro and saying those hurtful things.  
"I accept your apology," was Karmi's response.  
"Anyways, now that that's done," David fiddles with his hands, "do you want to join me and Sara at Noodle Burger for further apology? Our treat."  
"No thanks, I'm busy," he hears the door beginning to close and adds on.  
"Hold on! They got this cool robot at the establishment that's also a customer service-"  
The lab door shuts close.  
"Representative.." David sighed, then walked over to where his sister was idling by, he could tell from her sighs that she heard the whole conversation.

"You tried David, you tried." Sara patted him on the shoulder.

"I know," he swallowed a ball of saliva down his throat, "I was just hoping that this time..she'd let us in."  
"Maybe one day Karmi will open up to us," Sara wraps him into a hug, the warmth comforting him. "But until then, at least Mika is keeping an eye out for the little germ."  
"Y'know you calling her a germ is the reason she doesn't like you or Mika," David frowns.  
"It's a nickname! Look it up!" she chuckled, "you doing okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm good," David exhaled, they both were walking down the hallway to their next class, "speaking of Mika, where is she?"  
"Dunno, took Ari somewhere…" Sara paused, "Mika's been acting odd, she's not one to take days off like that."  
"Well you know Mika, she's an oddball but she's our oddball," David chuckled, "I'm pretty sure it's harmless."

* * *

"So let me get this straight..you watch this fantasy show..and everyone else who watches this show is currently freaking out over this..new character?"  
"Yeah I keep hearing people talk about how attractive he is, I just don't get it."  
"You and me both Ari, you and me both."

She chuckled, "well at least someone gets it." Ari was at the San Fransokyo prison yet again visiting High Voltage. Though technically it was just Juniper she was visiting, she didn't have time to talk to both.  
"Anyways, it's nice to see you again," Juniper gave her a smile that just melted Ari, "It's sooo boring here! You visiting definitely brightens up my day!"  
Ari beams, "why thank you. I try to visit when I can, but it's hard keeping it a secret from my other friends, they just wouldn't get it. Well except one but I couldn't ask them to keep it a secret that long."

"Really?" Juniper raised an eyebrow, "weird."  
"I know! I love my friends but at the same time they drive me crazy!" She throws her hands up in the air in exclamation, "and I'm still mad at Hiro for following me!" Juniper gives her a puzzled look, "oh uh..Hiro is one of my friends..and he followed me into the woods one time and it was a rude thing for him to do."

"Well, he might have done that because he cares for you." her friend tells her, "while I am still mad at my mom..I still love her, if she would admit what she did!"

Ari chuckles, "is this supposed to be a 'you' thing?"  
Juniper shook her head, "oh sorry, the point I'm trying to make is that I think the reason your friend was nosy was because he was worried."  
"Or he was nosy and forgot boundaries for a moment," Ari grumbles.  
"That works too."

Ari chuckles, then looks at the time, "rats, time's up, sorry June.."  
"Jeez that's quicker than you usually leave," Juniper notes, a frown on her face, Ari didn't like seeing that sad expression.  
"I know..I'm sorry, but I have to take the bus to get home, and there's one leaving around this time." She explains, "I'll try to visit sooner."  
"It's fine," Juniper waves it off, "as fun as you visiting is, I don't want to be the reason you're having a disagreement with your friend."

"Thanks," Ari smiles, "maybe I'll send a letter." she goes to grab her bag then has a realization, "wait...can I do that?"  
Juniper facepalms, "of course you can write a letter! I'd write you a dozen if I knew where to send it to,"

"Noted," Ari then grabs a piece of paper and a pencil, "one second.." she writes down her address, "if you want to send me a letter, here you go." And she hands the slip of paper to Juniper, who sticks it in her pocket.  
"Thanks! I'll send one asap!" she smiled, "also can I ask why you're taking the bus to leave? Doesn't a friend drop you off then pick you up?"  
"Yeah, but my friend Mikan said she had something to do for her dad." Ari explains, "but told me to tell everyone that she dropped me off somewhere..kind of weird but she's an odd one."  
"Yeah that's weird, probably her thing..hope your friends don't follow her too."  
"Oh my god."

* * *

Where Mikan was, however, was the last place anyone expected. She was carrying several machine parts over to her dad's "workstation" as she liked to call it. But she had to be secret about it, which is why asking Ari to cover her was a great idea. The girl trusted her without doubts, since she was the only reason she'd get to talk to her little crush and her mom. Mikan chuckled, people did weird things when they were in love, not that she ever felt such an emotion.  
"Hope my dad likes this, and this." In Mikan's other hand was a box of pastries, from the Lucky Cat Cafe, her dad usually excuses her tardiness when she brought him his favorite treat. A love of blueberry scones did run in the family after all.

"It's such a hassle to enter when your two main hands are full of things," she muttered, opening the door was hard for her this time. But luckily she could just place one box down and open with her spare hand.

"Man I should talk to him about the lighting," she felt unnerved by the eerie green lighting of his "lair" it felt like a horror movie setting to her. When checking to see if her dad was in his room, she noted he wasn't there, but she found him in his usual spot. Staring at his giant computer monitors poking through Big Hero 6 news, articles, and social media sightings like a creep.

"Hey Pops I got your delivery," she speaks up, he turns around, the left side of his face glowing purple with annoyance.

"I thought I'd told you not to call me 'pops' ever again," Obake narrows his eyes, then notices the pastry box in her hand, "I see you've also brought a treat."  
"Yep," Mikan places the box of scones on the side, then handed him the box of parts, "next time you need me to bring you supplies in the day, don't do it when it's a school day."  
"The other two and your friends aren't aware of your current whereabouts correct?" he questioned.

Mikan shook her head, "nah, Ari's got me covered. She owes me anyways for all the times I take her to visit High Voltage, her pining is so obvious I can't believe her crush can't notice, probably just likes the attention to be honest." she shrugs, "people who are in love act so weird.."  
"True, love can blind a person to the truth," her dad nods, "we're both kindred spirits, not falling victim to the distractions of romance."  
"Sure sure," Mikan shrugs, "so, do you still want me to keep an eyeball on Ariel?"  
"No," Obake continues to stare at an article of Big Hero 6 he pulled up on screen, "she's not a thorn in any of my plans, however there is something interesting about that girl."  
"Like?" Mikan raised an eyebrow, she didn't think there was anything super special in Ari, she seemed like an average girl, well an average girl with amnesia but still-

"You may continue to observe her if you wish, however in the grand scheme of things, any strange quirk that she has won't be anything beneficial to my plans."

She nodded in understanding, she may keep an eye on Ari just in case, if she ever became a threat to his plans in the future…

"Sorry I'm late!" Mikan turned her head at the voice, and saw a purple glob swing in, and hit the wall, "darn it! Still getting used to this place."  
"You good Globby?" she walked up to him, as he unstuck himself from the wall, he stared at her with his artificial green eyes.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine," Globby brushed himself off, as much as a glob monster could brush his sticky body, "just not used to all the walls!"

She smirks, "well maybe I'll teach you how to get used to the walls in our next lesson," Mikan turned to Obake, "that's why you called him again, correct?"  
"Yes," her dad nodded, then turned to Globby. "Before I send you on your next task, you need to learn as much as possible, calling you for a lesson is starting to become a hassle."  
"So….?" Globby frowned, not understanding what he was getting at.  
"Translation, you might wanna pack your things and move here," Mikan explained, "now you can do that _after_ the lesson."  
"Ohhhh," the glob monster realized, "well, as long as staying here comes with free room service I don't mind moving in."  
"Do not refer to me as room service.."  
"Sorry Mikan."

"If you two are done bantering," they both turn to Obake, "I need to do some work, _alone_ ," the left side of his face glowed with irritation.  
"Okay, okay fine dad," Mikan rolled her eyes, then gestured for Globby to follow here, "c'mon, today's lesson will allow you to do a powerful trick."  
"Say Mikan," Globby questioned, "what do you mean by powerful?"  
Mikan flashed a grin that showed her sharp teeth, "by powerful I mean..it's something that I've learned myself, as long as you keep this info to yourself of course.."

"But it's nice to not be a lone wolf anymore in terms of..uniqueness, heh, that was a bit of a pun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dunn..shocker about Mikan!  
> Also I like doing original chapters. They're fun.


	21. Chapter 20: (Aunt Cass Goes Out) Buddy Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang watch a Krei-Tech commercial! Ari has no idea why Sara hates Krei though.

Ari tapped the remote with frustration, "can we just start the dumb movie already?!" she asked Cass for the tenth time.

"No Ari, we have to wait for the popcorn to be done." Cass gestured to the microwave, she had a popcorn bag that was thirty second away from being done.

"I don't even like popcorn," she grumbled, looking up at the stairs she noted Hiro hadn't come down yet, "where is Hiro?"  
"I'll call him down when the popcorn's done," Cass tells her, "he might've forgotten."  
The microwaved beeped, Cass got the hot bag out, opened it up, and placed the popcorn in a bowl. She headed upstairs to grab Hiro. "It's movie night Hiro! I rented us Kentucky Kaiju vs. Zombiesaurus!"  
"Yeah uh..be right down! Just putting on my uh..movie clothes!" Ari overheard Hiro from upstairs, at this point she could tell when he was lying, _maybe he was working on another secret project. again_.

As the conversation continued upstairs, Ari turned to Mochi, "I wish Hiro would tell me what he does, but it's not any of my business, I just worry about him n' stuff."

Mochi meowed in response, she chuckled and rubbed his belly, "you're lucky Mochi, you're a cat you don't have to work or deal with humans all day or get amnesia, you're just living your own life hakuna matata style."  
Eventually Hiro and Baymax came down, the former was wearing a pair of pajamas, "is that movie clothes?" Ari smirked.

"Yes, for your information!" Hiro huffed, "I don't see you wearing movie clothes!" he gestured to her blue striped sweater.  
"This is cozy," Ari crossed her arms.  
"Yeah, but it's all you wear," he narrowed his eyes.  
"It's cozy."  
"Alright alright enough kids," Cass took a seat on the couch between the two, the bowl of popcorn in her hands, "we're starting the movie now."  
"Can I hold the popcorn bowl this time Aunt Cass?"  
"No Hiro, you spilled all the popcorn last time!"  
"I was just sharing with Mochi."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHG

Fredilicous24: You ok Sara?

Sara Ferns: NO

Sara Ferns: Uncle Steven is forcing me to come with him on the stupid Krei showcase whatever

TheLittleMermaid: Why do we hate Krei again?

Mikan Ferns: Because he's an idiot, Hiro didn't you tell her who Krei was

Hiro Hamada: I did!  
TheLittleMermaid: You just told me to "google it" and all I got was that he's a generic CEO

Sara Ferns: A generic JERK

Fredilicous24: Hey we're going to the same presentation! Would that cheer your mood?

Sara Ferns: No

TheLittleMermaid: I'll sit next to you?

Sara Ferns: ...that would cheer me up a little

* * *

"Thanks again for coming guys," Fred told Hiro, Baymax, Gogo, and Ari as they were waiting in line to enter Krei-Tech Industries. "Dad's stuck at Chateau Frederickson, so I'm representing the family."  
"Any idea what this is about?" Hiro questioned.  
"I wanna know too! And if it's why Sara is so angry," Ari gestured to the girl who was brooding and had her arms crossed next to her uncle a few feet ahead of them.  
"Pretty sure you're not gonna get an answer for that today," Gogo tells her.  
"I've got no idea what it's about," Fred explains, "only that the invitation just said to 'prepare to have your worries disappear!'" he accidentally knocks into another person with his hands, "oh sorry."

" _That would be an impressive therapeutic breakthrough,_ " Baymax states.  
"I think that was just clickbait," Hiro speaks up, "probably just some brand new thing he's trying to sell knowing him."

"Yeah that sounds like Krei alright," Fred shrugs.

Gogo scoffs, "looks like he invited every rich jerk in town," she notices someone and turns away, "as I was saying."  
Two people passed by the group, Ari recognized one of them as Binky Mole, the snobby rich jerk that couldn't see Fred for the amazing person he was at his Bro-Tillion. The other person..she heard nothing good about him from both Fred, and Gogo.

"Uch, Richardson Mole." Fred gags, it was the first time Ari had ever seen him in person.  
"Jeez lousie, is that a gremlin?" She whispered to Hiro.

Richardson flips up his shirt collar and raises his eyebrows at Gogo, who is unamused.

"Hey Gogo, were you just talking about me?" Richardson walks up to her, "dream girl? My ears were burning."  
Ari imitates a vomiting sound, sticking out her tongue in disgust at his behavior.

Baymax waddles over to inspect Richardson, " _burning often indicates infection,_ " he scans him. " _There is no infection, however your ceruminous glands are overproducing ear wax._ "

"Oh gross!" Richardson holds his hands to his ears, "shut it about my glands!" He runs away, catching up to his mother Binky.  
Ari smirks as he leaves, "no wonder you hate him Fred, he's a creep."  
"Yeah," Fred nods in agreement.  
"Nice save Baymax," Gogo smiles, high fiving the robot, who stared at his hand after the high five.

* * *

As they enter Krei-Tech, each of them are given name tags. Ari waves goodbye to Hiro as she takes a seat next to Steven, Sally, Sara, and David, she notices Mikan is not with them.  
"Hey where's Mikan?" she questioned, both Sara and David shrugged.  
"She didn't get an invitation," Sally answers her, "but Mikan showed no interest in attending this in the first place."

"Lucky her," Sara grumbled.  
David pats her on the shoulder.

"Can I ask again why you don't like Krei?" Ari questioned, "I'm curious."  
"That's a conversation for another day," Steven speaks before Sara can, "and I would prefer if you didn't insult my boss while in the same vicinity as him, I don't want to get fired."  
"See?" Sara points to her uncle, as if trying to validate her point.

Sally sighs, "not again…"  
Ari decides to not push the subject, "so um..miss Sally? You teach at SFIT right? What do you teach?"

"I teach Physics with Electricity and Magnetism," Sally explains, "I was a student at SFIT you see, so I thought I'd stick around and teach future generations."  
"Oh wow!" Ari exclaimed, "you were a student at SFIT?"  
"Yes," Sally nodded, "it was a long time ago."

"Did you go to school there too?" she glanced up at Steven, who shook his head.

"Nope, I went to another type of school, I did try to go to SFIT but it wasn't right for me..so I went somewhere else."  
"It would've been nice if we went to the same school however," Sally smiled at him, "you would've gotten along with Wendy and Bobby very well."  
"Didn't you have another friend in your group?"  
"Yeah but he became a real jerk."  
The lights go off, the audience clap as they bring their attention to the screen.

"What does it mean to..be rich?" the screen shows a picture of Alistair Krei in front of Krei-Tech Industries. "It means having things, lots of things, expensive things," Ari notices the CEO in front of the screen in person, "things that other people want."  
The audience claps for some reason, "he should've just gone with riches," she hears David whisper to Steven.

"It could all disappear in an instant!" Krei exclaims, "all of your precious things!" ninjas with swords appear out of nowhere and surround Krei, she's startled for a moment but realizes it's part of the act.

"If only I had someone looking out for me, if only I had...a buddy." Then all of a sudden nets appear out of nowhere and capture three of the ninjas. _How did he do that?_ Ari wondered, was it some sort of invisible bodyguard?

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor to introduce..Buddy Guard!" he clicks a button and it reveals a round robot with one eye and blue and yellow circuitry, that looks like a flying pill to her. "It's more than protection, it's the friend you can depend..on, the slogan isn't final."

"What did your boss invent this time?" Ari whispered to Steven.  
"I don't know.." Steven frowned, "but I know how he's making them invisible.."

"The Buddy Guard is a military-grade drone, capable of countering any attack." Krei explains to the audience, as the Buddy Guard nets the last ninja on stage. "But who wants that eyesore hovering over them while taking a stroll on your private island?"  
"So we gave ugly here the ability to turn invisible," Krei clicks a button, and the Buddy Guard disappears yet again.

"But how? You may wonder, great question!" Krei's assistant Judy walks up to the stage, holding a purple cloth. "Flexible display technology," he holds the cloth up, it and the Buddy Guard shimmers, "a high resolution miracle, it can look like anything!" Krei puts on the cloth, clicks his button and then his face looks like Judy's, they make eye contact for a few moments and then Krei removes the cloth from his head.

"Or it can look like nothing at all," Krei holds the cloth to Judy's face, making it disappear and causing her to look like a headless horseman without a head or a horse. "So be smart, buy yourself a buddy!" The cloth displays a Buddy Guard and the words, "buy now!"

The audience applauses, "Pre-orders in the lobby! Get them before they disappear!"

* * *

As the crowd gets up from their seats, either to order a Buddy Guard or take advantage of the free snacks in the lobby, Ari rejoins Hiro and his friends after waving goodbye to the Fern Family.

"Did you guys like the presentation?" Ari asked them.

"A bit," Hiro shrugged, "I'm just gonna ask Krei what safeguards he uses." They walk up to the stage, where Krei is speaking to his assistant.

"That seemed to go well," the CEO remarked, smirking as he watched the crowd dispersed.

"Mr. Krei, that was impressive tech." Hiro walks up to him.

"Thank you Hiro," Krei smiles, "that means a lot coming from you."

"How are your programming safeguards?" Hiro questions.  
"Safeguards?" Krei raises an eyebrow.  
"You know, so your buddy doesn't turn into an enemy," Gogo elaborated.  
"Oh, that kind of programming safeguard, well yeah," Krei shrugs it off, "there are many awesome, really safe, safeguards." He then rubs Hiro's head, "anyways thanks for coming," then Krei walks off.

As Judy follows, Hiro calls to her, "um excuse me? Uh question, is there really any safeguards?"  
"Officially, there are many, and they are awesome!" Judy also rubs Hiro's head, and walks away.

Hiro and Gogo exchange eye contact in confusion, none of the group noticing Ari slinking away and following after Krei and Judy.

* * *

As Krei goes back to his office, he gets a visitor, a-

"Surprise!" a man with curly brown hair, dark blue eyes that had square glasses covering them and wearing a lab coat appeared from a purple cloth.

"Aah!" Krei yelps in shock but recognizes the man, "Dr. Mel Meyer? What are you doing here?"  
"When I sold you my Flexible Display Technology, you gave me your word my invention would be used for fun things," Mel points at Krei, "like hiding people at surprise parties!"

"The Buddy Guard is fun," Kei replies, "what's more fun than a buddy?"

"You're using it to hurt people!" Mel argued.

"Hurt people?" the CEO frowns, "no I'm using it to defend people," he gets up from his desk. "Thanks for stopping by Mel, may I call you Mel?" he starts to lead the scientist out of his office, "we should go for muffins sometime."  
"Going for muffins isn't a thing, you're just trying to get rid of me!" Mel accuses, "I demand you give me my plans back!" He crosses his arms, then notices his plans on Krei's desk. However as he goes to retrieve it Krei snatches it first.

"Sorry Mel, the Buddy Guard's going to be huge." Krei uses his ID to place the blueprints in a cabinet, "oh look! Here's a few!" He clicks a button and several Buddy Guards appear as Mel tries to lift a finger to argue.

"See Dr. Meyer out," Krei tells the Buddy Guards, the drones grab Mel by the arms.  
"You haven't seen the last of me!" Mel declares, then a purple cloth is tossed on him, making most of his body including his head invisible.  
"Pretty sure I have," Krei smirks, watching the Buddy Guards take Mel away from his office.  
"This unacceptable, and unpleasant, and-" Mel argues as he's being taken away, the door shuts behind and Krei smirks.

As Krei goes back to his desk to get some work done, he hears the door open again.

"Um, excuse me?" As the CEO looks up, he sees Ari is standing in front of his desk.

"Do I know you?" Krei questioned.

"Oh um..I'm Ari," she introduces herself, she turns to the door, "what was that about? That guy did not seem to like you."  
"It was just a disagreement," Krei explains, "is there something you need?" he narrows his eyes at her.  
"Well I know that Steven Ferns works for you, correct?" Ari questioned.  
"Yes?" Krei nods.  
"Judging by that, you know his niece Sara Ferns right?" she takes a deep breath, "just wanted to know why she doesn't like you for some reason."  
It was not what Krei expected, "huh, well frankly I don't talk to any of Steven's kids, so I don't have a clue."  
"Oh," Ari's head drops down, "darn."  
"If that's all, you can go now." Krei gestures to the door, "I've got some work I need to do."  
"Right," she starts to walk away, "sorry for bothering you sir, and thank you for at least answering to the best of your ability!" and Ari leaves the office.

Krei stares at the door for a few moments, "she was rather polite, wait didn't I see her hanging around Hiro?"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Buddy Guards? Really?

Sara Ferns: I KNOW!? We're gonna have another robot attack!  
Mikan Ferns: I told you Krei's an idiot

TheLittleMermaid: But he said he had safeguards…

Gogo: Oh you sweet summer child

Sara Ferns: He's a liar! A stupid liar!

TheLittleMermaid: That's kind of mean

Sara Ferns: GOOD

Mikan Ferns: Change of subject, who wants Noodle Burgers on Saturday?! My treat.

Fredilicous24: ME

TheLittleMermaid: ME TOO

* * *

Ari smiled at the group chat, "yes!" she raised a fist to the air.  
"What are you smiling about?" Cass asked her, they were on their way to SFIT to hand Hiro his homework that he accidentally left back at the cafe.

"Oh nothing, just some free food courtesy of Mikan." Ari grins.

As they enter the Robotics lab however, Cass bumps into someone exiting.

"Woah!" Cass manages to catch the person before he falls, Ari gasps as she recognizes the falling person as Alistair Krei.

Krei looks at Cass and smiles, "uh..nice catch,"  
"Thanks, nice fall," Cass smiles back. Ari felt weirded out at their behavior. _Why do I hear saxophones in the background or is that just me?_

Hiro walks up to them, "uh hey Aunt Cass wh-what are you doing here?" he wedges himself between Cass and Krei. He stares at his aunt, who's still making eye contact with Krei.

"Oh, you forgot your chemistry homework," Cass clears her throat and hands the notebook to Hiro.

"I think I'm feeling a little chemistry right now," Krei tells her.

Cass giggles, "are you flirting with me? Wow this feels like flirting."  
"Yeah real cheesy flirting," Ari rolled her eyes, Hiro glared at her, "what?"

He glances back and forth between Cass and Krei, "okay thanks, haha you can go now Aunt Cass," Hiro attempts to drag his aunt away but she doesn't budge.

"Aunt...Cass, what an enchanting name," Krei smiles.  
"Thanks, but people who aren't my nephew just call me Cass." she replies.  
"Or maybe don't call her anything, at all," Hiro glares.  
"Way to be dramatic," Ari facepalms.

"How about dinner tonight, Cass?" Krei offers as he pushes Hiro to the side, "say around seven?"  
"Uh she's busy, forever!" Hiro continues to argue.

"Well, I am busy, I own my own business," Cass explains, "I mean of course you own your own business too, a bigger business."  
"That's a good point," Hiro nods, "and I bet Krei is even busier."  
"Oh come on!" Ari argues, "I could take care of the Lucky Cat for a few hours!" Hiro turns around and gives her the angriest glare in the history of angry glares.  
Cass turns to Ari and smiles, "aw thanks Ari," she turns to Krei, "well if you can make time, then so can I, I'd be delighted Mr. Krei."  
"People who aren't your nephew call me 'Alistair."  
Hiro lifts up a finger to argue, but can't think of anything.

"Looks like you got what you wanted," Gogo tells him as she walks up to him, "congratulations."  
"Thanks I hate it," Hiro crosses his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I memed at the end because why not


	22. Chapter 21: (Aunt Cass Goes Out) Date Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date with Aunt Cass and Krei doesn't go well

"For the ten billionth time Ariel! Quit asking me why I don't like Krei!" Sara was glaring at her, she was working on some project in her lab which kept being interrupted by Ari's pestering.

"Please?" Ari gave her wide puppy eyes.  
"No," Sara tells her.  
"Double please?"  
"Double no."  
"Triple please?"  
"Triple n-stop it!"  
"C'mon!" Ari groaned, "I need to know! Especially because Krei is taking Cass out on a date and I need to know if he's good enough for her!"  
"You don't need to know-WHAT?!" Sara whipped her head around, eyes wide as dinner plates, Ari saw trickles of anger in her eyes. " you just ."

"Um...Krei is taking Cass on a date?" Ari took a few steps back at the intensity of the glare, Sara in response began to stomp around her lab.  
"Why?! Just why?! This is the worst idea Hiro's aunt has done, ever?! What the hell?! Why is this happening?! There is no bloody way that Hiro's gonna this happen! He better do something about it or else-"  
"Shouldn't we stay out of her personal life?" Ari raised an eyebrow, "it's not a big deal, a little weird, but it's not the end of the world."  
"Not a big deal?!" Sara stomped over until she was face to face with Ari, "do you even know what Alistair Krei has done?!"  
"Um...stupid CEO things like what CEOs do?" Ari whimpered.

Sara noticed the fear in Ari's eyes, then stepped back. She sighed, "he's not a good person, a greedy business tycoon, someone who makes shortcuts in the name of profit."  
"And if it weren't for him… Tadashi would still be alive.." she muttered under her breath.  
"What?" Ari couldn't hear what she said.  
"It's nothing!" Sara sighed, shoving Ari out of her lab, "bye bye Ariel, tell Hiro I said good luck!" and closed the door. Once her intruder was gone, Sara could work on her project again.

But she didn't, instead she pulled up a photo on her phone. It was a picture of her and Tadashi completing a group project, smiling as they both had gotten an A for their efforts. Sara smiled as she remembered the moment, so happy that they succeeded they both gave each other hugs.

"You'd be happy to see how far your brother has come," Sara sighed, wiping a tear from her eye, "but he misses you..we all do."  
Her sadness turned to anger when finding out who started the showcase fire, and how the whole act had been a revenge scheme against Krei. She _hated_ him, had he not aggravated Callaghan or done his stupid shortcuts, then there would be no showcase fire and no revenge plot. No matter how much her uncle Steven told her that his boss shouldn't be blamed for the actions of another, _his_ actions had been the reason for that.  
"I really need to stop doing this to myself," she put her phone down, and started working again on her project, "though I'm really hopeful that date goes sour."

* * *

When Ari got back to the Lucky Cat Cafe, it was after Cass left on her date. She saw Hiro pacing like a maniac in the living room.  
"Hiro, are you okay?" Ari asked him.

"Wh-what if this date goes great?!" Hiro exclaims as he paces, "what if they really, really like each other?!" he turns to Baymax, "they couldn't get married right?!"

Baymax was holding Mochi and giving the cat some pets, " _they are of legal age for marriage._ " The robot states, " _Mr. Krei would then be your uncle._ "  
"Uncle Krei!? Hiro looked horrified at the concept.  
"Yeah...I don't think I could see it," Ari hummed.  
"It's not happening!" Hiro exclaims, "no way!"

"What is so bad about Krei again?!" Ari questioned, "Sara said he's a jerk, so Cass will probably dump him if he really is."  
"Yeah he is a jerk," Hiro nods, "he blackmailed me and my friends to inspect his Buddy Guard's safeguards or else.." he stops his sentence, because the blackmailing part was about their Big Hero 6 secret identities.  
"Wow," Ari quipped, "what a slimeball."  
"Yeah," Hiro started to drag Baymax down the stairs, Ari looked in confusion.  
"Wait, where are you going?" she asked him, "are you following their date?"  
"Um, noooo?" Hiro lied, "I'm just uh..going for a walk with Baymax?"  
Ari rolled her eyes, "I don't mind if you do, just don't do anything stupid."  
"Got it!" Hiro then exited the cafe with Baymax in tow, Ari sighed and just picked up Mochi.

"You know..I just don't get it Mochi," Ari stared at the cat, who meowed back. "Why should I care if Au...well you wouldn't tell, if Aunt Cass dated anyone. It's her life, but at the same time...eh..dating is weird."

Mochi just rubbed his face against her arms, purring as he does so. Ari chuckled, "you're such a good kitty."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Nopenopenopenope NOPE! Not happening!  
Mikan Ferns: I take ONE day off and suddenly there's a frenzy, I am 90% sure the date will go bad

Sara Ferns: THERE'S STILL TEN PERCENT LEFT

Wasabi: Chill Sara, how about you try not to think about it

Sara Ferns: I'm going to drown my sorrows in cookie dough

Gogo: That is not healthy

Sara Ferns: LET ME LIVE MY LIFE

Hiro Hamada: Can I join you?

Gogo: Hiro don't

Mikan Ferns: Hey Ari how do you feel about this?

TheLittleMermaid: eh

TheLittleMermaid: I don't date, so why should I care

Mikan Ferns: I know who you'd like to date though : )

TheLittleMermaid: CAN YOU NOT

Gogo: Wow guys..just..wow

* * *

At SFIT, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Gogo were poking through the Buddy Guard's coding.

"Awww," Honey Lemon stared at the drone in a box, "it's kind of cute!..In a way."  
"Sure, cute for a lethal weapon." Gogo glances at her.

Wasabi picked up the Buddy Guard out of the box and took a look at it's code "Jeez, you and Hiro were right, it wouldn't take much of a glitch to scramble this thing's programming."  
"That's not a good thing," Honey Lemon notes, looking at the wirings of the drone.

"Speaking of Hiro," Gogo glanced around but didn't see him anywhere in the lab, "where is he?"  
"Oh, he texted me, he's busy following Krei and Aunt Cass on their date." Honey Lemon explained.

"Yeah, that's normal."  
As they continued to work, Fred walked in with a bunch of fast food bags. "Who needs a Noodle Burger break?" he walks over to the lab table.

"Yes, we're starving here." Gogo swipes one of the bags.  
"Thanks Freddie!" Honey Lemon takes a bag with glee.  
As Fred places the soda cups in the toolbox for placeholding, Wasabi shoots him a warning, "Not a good place to do that."  
"Why?" Fred turns to his friend, but his arm knocks the sodas over and the fizzy drink spills on the Buddy Guard.

"Awww," Wasabi stares at the drone glitches with purple electricity.  
"Ohhh," Fred said as a moment of realization as the drone flies above them, the green eye turning red as it labels all of them as enemies.  
"Yep," Gogo and all of them stare at the floating Buddy Guard, "that's why."

The Buddy Guard stares for a few seconds, then turns invisible.  
"That's not good…" Wasabi clenched his teeth.  
Fred doesn't seem worried however, and takes a sip of his soda, "oh cool it wants to play hide and seek-" the invisible drone fires a laser at him. "Oww!" Which knocks him down to the floor.

"It's not playing hide and seek," Gogo tells him as he grabs the lab table to pull himself up. The drone buzzes, and fires a laser at her next, "ow!"

"Uhh!" It targets Honey Lemon next.

Fred grips his soda cup, picking up the lid and straw with his other hand and points it around the room, "show yourself coward!" The Buddy Guard in response shoots Fred in the back, "owww!"  
The drone shimmers from being visible to invisible, and hits Wasabi, "ouch!" He crawls under the table, "how are we supposed to fight what we can't see!?"  
"With ketchup!" Fred pulls out several ketchup packets from a Noodle Burger bag, "aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he starts firing ketchup everywhere, the tomato flavored condiment goes everywhere in the lab, but it covers the Buddy Guard.

"Fred it worked!" Honey Lemon smiles, she grabs a nearby book and whacks the Buddy Guard with it over to Gogo, she hits it with a fire extinguisher and it hits the wall next to Fred and Wasabi. The ketchup from the Buddy Guard splatters on the wall as it goes down, smoke emits from the drone as it turns visible again. They all walk towards the bodyguard still armed, a few moments pass to confirm that it wouldn't attack them again.

"Yeah! How do you like us now buddy?" Wasabi leans in, taunting the drone, which then zaps him with one more laser, "Oww!" he falls to the floor. The others stare at him in mild shock.

* * *

" _See anything yet?_ "  
"They just entered the restaurant, it's a long line so we'll have to go in the back." Hiro frowned at the front door where Krei _..uhg_ took his aunt inside, he had his phone to his ear and Ari was on the other line.

" _How do you plan on doing that?_ " Ari asked him, " _you could sneak in fine, but I doubt Baymax could._ "  
A lightbulb turns on in Hiro's head, "thanks for the idea Ari!"  
" _..you're welcome?_ "

Baymax buzzes the back door, a chef opens the door. " _Hello, I am Baymax._ "

The chef stares at him funny, "so what?" he points to the bag, "is that bag for me?" As he questions the robot, Hiro sneaks into the restaurant from behind.  
" _You may have the bag._ "  
"What's in it?"  
Baymax scans the bag, " _garbage._ "  
The chef looked offended, "why would I want garbage?!" behind him, Hiro flashed the robot a thumbs up as he entered the restaurant.

" _I do not know._ "  
"Is this some kind of joke?"  
" _I do not understand jokes._ "  
The chef stares at Baymax, "yeah I'm gonna close the door now," and he slams the door leaving Baymax outside.

" _Goodbye,_ " Baymax waves.

Unaware to the host and the people waiting outside, the door opened, but there wasn't a visible person to open it..or rather, there was an _invisible_ person who entered the restaurant..

"Oh, is he gonna be surprised.." a voice chuckled, the host glanced at the door for a few seconds but shrugged it off.

* * *

Back at SFIT the gang was looking at the deactivated Buddy Guard for an explanation why it went rouge.

Wasabi looked through the data on the computer, "When Fred spilled his drink, it shorted out the drone's threat assessment program," he explained.

Gogo glanced at him, popping her bubblegum, "so it thought we were all bad guys."  
"Yeah."

Fred picked up the drone and looked into its eye, "we are superheroes! We are the definition of good guys! Come on!"  
"These buddies are dangerous," Honey Lemon speaks up, "Krei cannot sell them to the public."  
"Mhmm," Gogo nods, "we need to tell him immediately."  
"Is he even going to listen to us?" Wasabi questions, the others stare at him, "I mean knowing his track record.."  
"Nah," Fred places the Buddy Guard done, "Krei's been on the caution side since… so I think he'll listen!"  
"I hope so," Honey Lemon nods, "though we'll have to tell him later, after his date..I doubt he'd be in a mood to listen if we ruined his date."

* * *

"Ari I need a plan on how to ruin Krei's date," Hiro whispered to the phone, he was hiding under an ice statue and staring at the table his aunt and Krei were sitting at. It was very disturbing to watch, the sooner it ended the better.

"I never would've guessed you're a fan of origami too," he heard his aunt speak to Krei.

The CEO chuckled, "ah yes, we always had plenty laying around, Papa never let me fold anything bigger than a fifty, but I made do." He folded a money bill to resemble-

"A crane! Amazing!" Cass exclaimed, "check this out," she took the paper crane and folded it into a different shape.

Krei smiled at the origami money, "it's me! And I'm literally made of money!" He took the paper mini-Krei, "I'll treasure it always."

"Bleh," Hiro stuck his tongue out, "too sappy.."  
" _Maybe try to make him mad,_ " Ari suggested from the other line, " _I wouldn't want to date a girl if she got mad easily. And for your information, I resent that sappy comment mister."_

"It was literally origami money," Hiro deadpanned, "what's so special?"  
Ari scoffed from the other line, " _you'll understand when love hits you in the face Hiro._ "  
"That'll happen as much as flying dumplings."

As the waiter went to place the appetizers down on the table, Hiro tripped their leg and caused the food to spill all over Krei.

"Oh!" Krei stood up in anger, "I am so-"  
"Mr. Krei!" The waiter looked at him with fear in his eyes, as Krei opened his mouth to yell something he noticed Cass staring at him with wide eyes.

Krei fumbled on his words, "ahhh..not going to have you fired!" He picks the waiter up, "cuz what kind of monster would have a guy fired for a simple mistake? Not me, not a monster." He hands the waiter a bill, "here's 20 bucks, buy yourself some chicken toes."

"Oookay," and the waiter walks away.

" _Real real heck of a guy there ladies in gents,_ " Ari facepalmed from the other line.

"That was sweet," Cass tells Krei, "but you got something from.." she points to his stained suit, "yeah..pretty much all over."  
Krei looks down at the mess, "right, I'll go wash off," he heads to the restroom.

"Sorry not sorry Uncle Krei," Hiro smirks, Ari facepalms again from the other line.

* * *

In the restroom, Krei is using a washcloth to attempt wiping the stain away from his suit. He looks at himself in the mirror and frowns, it is not coming out anytime soon.

"Surprise!"  
He jolts, "aaah!" another face appears out of nowhere behind him, "stop doing that Mel!" He then has a moment of realization, "wait why are you here!?"  
"I'll be needing your key card Alistair…" Mel tells him, holding a rope, Krei's eyes widen.

"Wait..that's illegal!"

* * *

" _Is Krei back yet?_ " Ari asks from the other line.

"Yep," Hiro answers, seeing the CEO exit from the bathroom, with no trace of his suit being stained.

"Alistair? Wow, you cleaned up nice." Cass walks up to him.

"Oh, uh yeah, uh huh," Krei fumbles, his voice sounded different. "I'm sorry, something came up at the office and I have to go." He starts to walk away, Cass was not amused.

"Wait! Are you ditching me?" She narrows his eyes at him.  
"Well yeah I do have to leave now, and alone."  
"You have to at least give me a ride home buster!" Cass follows after him, "and what happened to your voice?"  
"What happened to _your_ voice?"  
Hiro stares from under the cart curtain, he clicks the earpiece under his left ear, "Baymax! Krei and Aunt Cass are leaving, but Krei's acting weird."  
" _I agree with that statement,_ " Ari comments, still on the phone.

Outside the restaurant, Baymax scans Krei as he and Cass enter a limo. " _Mr. Krei appears normal, but his DNA has changed._ "  
"Hmm," Hiro glances to the restroom, he enters and hears the sound of muffling.  
"Mhmm, mm-mm-mm," he opens up one of the stalls and a tied up Krei with duct tape covering his mouth falls out.

He removes the duct tape from the CEO's mouth, "Mr. Krei? Why are you tied up?"  
"He stole my ID! And my 'buy nine sandwiches, get the tenth sandwich free' card."  
" _Who did?!_ " Ari questions from the other line, " _and why also your sandwich car-_ "  
Hiro hangs up the phone, "but if you're here..then who is-" there is a flash of fear in his eyes, "Aunt Cass!"

* * *

Ari stares at her phone with frustration, did..did Hiro just hang up on her? How was she supposed to know what was going on!?

"Arrrg!" she tosses the phone on her bed in anger, then stomps downstairs.

"Mochi can you believe the nerve of him!?" she stares at the cat, who meows in response. "I keep in check and asisst in his stupid plan but ooooh heaven forbid I'm on the phone when finding out some guy stole Krei's ID!"  
"Wait a moment," Ari thinks back to when she visited Krei in his office, and overhearing the conversation he had with some..Mel guy, "the guy sold Krei his technology..but Krei wouldn't give it back, you can use the tech to look like anything or nothing at all..logic concludes..HE'S BEING A KREI IMPOSTER AND AUNT CASS IS IN DANGER!" Mochi's fur fluffs in shock when her voice reaches a higher pick, "oh sorry Mochi."  
"But this is bad..this is really bad! Ohh why did Hiro have to hang up on me! I have to get to Krei-Tech and punch some weirdo in the face!" Ari bolted out of the cafe, hoping Cass was alright.

* * *

Cass was not alright, she was livid at her date, "what is so important that you need to go to your office in the middle of our date?!" She demands Krei, but she wasn't aware that it was actually Mel pretending to be Krei.

"Uh..it's a surprise." Mel tells her.

"I'm not a fan of surprises."  
Mel leans forward, "you know there's nothing like a surprise party. The bond shared by a group of people hiding and waiting together in the dark?"

"I guess?"  
"Wouldn't it be great if there was something that would make you invisible? So you could have the ultimate surprise party?"

Cass stares at him with wide eyes, "are you feeling okay?" She scoots several inches away.

"Yes sorry, I just get really excited about things sometimes."  
"Like surprise parties?"  
"Yeah! Uh it's a rich person thing, you wouldn't understand." Mel waves it off.

"You're right about that.." Cass mutters under her breath.

The limo arrives at Krei-Tech, "be right back," Mel tells Cass as he enters the building. He walks up to the front desk where a security guard is on his phone, "hi, um I'm-"  
The security guard notices him and stands up, "Mr. Krei! Workin' late?"

"Oh, is that something I would do? Th-th-then yes! Yes I am," Krei crosses his arms behind his back then starts heading to his office, the security guard gives a sigh of relief when he's out of sight.

When he gets to the office, Mel uses Krei's ID to open the bin his blueprints were stored in. "Check and mate," he smirks, but his eyes widen when he turns around, "oh!"  
"Surprise!"

" _Surprise._ " All members of Big Hero 6 were behind him, including Krei.

* * *

"Hand over the plans Mel," Krei demands, walking over with his hand extended.  
Mel gives him the plans with no other choice, "you win, but you should know that you're helping a man who's using my surprise party invention for something much less festive and something more boring!"

"It's called good business," Krei huffed, snatching the plans back.

"Sure, call it what you want, you can't sell those drones." Gogo tells Krei as the CEO heads back to his desk.

"If they get wet, their programming scrambles and they attack everyone around them." Honey Lemon explains.

Krei looks up and sees everyone (Mel included) glaring at him, "fine, I'll delay shipping until they're fixed." He tells them.

Mel smiles and removes the purple cloth making him look like Krei from his face, "what a nice surprise."  
"Yeah? How's this for a surprise?" Krei clicks a button on his desk, which activates a few Buddy Guards, which deem Mel as a threat and head towards him.  
"We _just_ said that they're dangerous!" Hiro exclaims, bringing his hand to his head.

Mel yelps and hides behind Fred, "Woah! Keep those things away from me! They can be dangerous!"

His movement causes Fred to laugh, "hahaha not cool man! I'm ticklish!" In an accident, he blasts the wall past the Buddy Guards but it hits the sprinkler and it activates.  
"That's not good," Wasabi states as the other drones in boxes get soaked, static emitting from them as they turn red, deem them all as threats, and turn invisible.

"What are we gonna do!?" Fred exclaimed, "I don't have any ketchup to use!"  
"Honey Lemon, use your chem balls," Gogo turns to her friend.  
"I'm on it-Uhh!" as she attempts to create a chem ball a Buddy Guard knocks her over, and traps her with a net when she tries to get back up.

"Woman down!" Gogo skates over to untie her but she gets hit and netted as well.

"Watch out!" Hiro exclaims as a laser flies over the group, they all duck.

Wasabi runs to Krei's desk, "I should be able to hack into the Buddy Operating System and turn those things visible," he moves past the CEO and starts typing in.

"Cover Wasabi!" Hiro tells the group, they all run to their friend at the desk.

Krei starts to walk away, "looks like you guys have it under control, so I'll go-" a laser hits Krei, "uhh!" He then gets netted.

"All right!" Fred called to the Buddy Guards, "nice one drones," he then gets lasered and netted, "ah! Bad drones! That was a bad one!"  
"If my arms were free I would be facepalming right now.." Gogo grumbled under her breath.

One of the Buddy Guards netted Wasabi, tying him to the chair, but he still tries to hack the drones without using his arms to type, "typing with your chin isn't easy." An icon pops up on the computer screen, "I think I did it!" The drones glitch as they turn visible again,"Aaah! I think I did something else!"  
" _The Buddy Guards are now visible, but they look different,_ " Baymax states, punching one of the drones.  
"Why do they look like Krei heads.." Fred was disturbed by the flying Krei heads, "why.."

Hiro gets hit by a laser, "ow!" he falls to the floor and is netted

Baymax turns to him, " _I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said, 'ow',_ " he goes to check on Hiro but then several Buddy Guards hit him with nets, and knock him over. " _Oh no, I am unable to tend to your health care needs._ "  
"I'm outta here!" Mel runs out of the door with the rest of the Krei heads chasing after him.

"No! He's leading them right to Aunt Cass!" Hiro exclaimed, very worried for his aunt's safety.

"Oh no," the group chorused.

* * *

Hiro struggled to break free, "jeez how tight did you make these nets?!" he turned to Krei.

"These Buddy Guards wouldn't be much of a hit if anything they netted could break free so easily," Krei responded, Hiro noticed Wasabi was scooting towards him, his plasma blade activated.  
"Nice Wasabi," he rolls over to the blade, it cuts the rope and he's able to break free. As he's about to help untie Wasabi, the door opens.

"Where's the Krei imposter?!" all of them whip their heads around to see that Ari entered the office and she anything but in a good mood. Her eyes zoomed in on the still tied up Krei, "you! I'm gonna make you regret going a foot near Au-"  
"Woah!" Hiro blocked her path, "that's the real Alistair Krei! The imposter ran off!" Ari looked around and saw the scorch marks from the lasers, and his tied up teammates, "can you help me untie the team?"  
"Oh uh, sure," Ari nodded, she helped unite Honey Lemon, Fred and Gogo, while Hiro managed to untie Wasabi and Baymax, as soon as the robot was untied he got on his back and took off.

"What's the rush?" Ari stared at where he took off.

"To catch the imposter," Fred replied, "Why are you here young lady? Isn't it too late at night for you to be out!"  
"Well um..Mr. Fire Lizard guy, my friend's aunt was on a date with this guy," she gestured to Krei, who was being untied by Wasabi, "and my friend hung up at the part where some imposter took Krei's ID! And I came here to punch that guy in the face if he did any damage!" Ari grumbled.

"Do not punch people in the face," Gogo told her.  
"Sorry," Ari bowed her head down, her rage was cooled down and she realized that it would've been bad in the long run no matter how satisfying, "have any of you seen my friend Hiro? He hung up on me and I didn't run into him."

All of them are sweating, except Krei, "wait she doesn't know you-" he gets cut off by Honey Lemon.  
"Perhaps your friend went home! Maybe you should head back to check!" she told Ari, "before he goes to try and find you and it turns into a goose chase!"  
Ari facepalmed, "Oh, of course! I'm an idiot!" she runs out of the office, all of the superheroes give sighs of relief.

"Do not tell her that we're Big Hero 6," Gogo glares at Krei, "ever," the CEO gave a weak nod.

* * *

Baymax punched two of the Buddy Guards that tried attacking them and smashed them into each other. "Hurry Baymax!" Hiro exclaimed as there were more drones chasing the limo his beloved aunt was in, as he flew past the drones he saw them glitch and turn back to normal. His aunt notices them flying from the window and waves, "hey that's the big guy from Big Hero 6! Hi! Thanks for your help."  
Hiro ducks and looks away, fearing Cass would recognize him, " _Hello,_ " Baymax waved.

"Baymax look out," Hiro jumped at a Buddy Guard that tried attacking them, "ah!"

" _Hiro._ " Baymax turns around seeing that Hiro was wrestling the Buddy Guard, and flies after them.

The drone moves through the city, trying to get Hiro to lose his grip, he clings to it with all his might but the drone gives him the slip, "aaah!" but he lands right back on. The Buddy Guard hits a billboard, destroying it and causing Hiro to fall, but Baymax catches him, " _Hiro, you are safe_ ," Baymax tells him.

"Come on, we gotta rescue Aunt Cass." Hiro and Baymax fly towards the limo, which drives through the park. He gasped in horror as a Buddy Guard had his aunt and Mel cornered, "rocket fist!" he told Baymax before the drone attacked his aunt. The rocket fist causes an explosion, Cass gasps, walking towards the smoky rocket fist but couldn't detect him or Baymax.

* * *

He watched from the shadows as the police arrived to arrest Mel.

"Do you want to press charges Mr. Krei?" an officer asks the CEO who arrived at the scene.

"Absolutely, throw the book at him!" Krei exclaimed.  
"Really Alistair?" Cass raised an eyebrow, "I mean sure, he's a creepy surprise party weirdo, but he told me why he did all this while we were being chased. You kind of used him," she frowned at him.

"Cass, Cass, Cass, Cass, you are a sweet person, but I am still pressing charges!"

"Let me go! I don't want to go to jail. I heard the food's terrible!" Mel was struggling with a police officer who was trying to get him into the police car, he manages to get free and tosses a purple cloth over his body except his feet. "So long forever! You'll never find me! You hear me? Never!"  
"We can still see your feet Mel," Cass tells him.  
"How do you know they're my feet?" he mumbled, the police officer rolled his eyes.

"Okay that's enough," a familiar brunette officer removed the cloth making most of Mel's body invisible, "if you keep resisting it will only make things worse for you." Mel pouted, giving up and going in the police car.  
"Hello again Detective Rosem-I mean Elio!" Cass waved to the officer.  
"Howdy Cass," Elio waved back, "rough night for you eh?" he glanced at Krei.

"Very funny Ella," Krei grumbled.  
"It's Elio, but at least you were close.."

Mel glances at Cass when he's in the police car, "w-will you come visit me in prison?"  
"Probably not," she replies.  
"Can I write to you?"  
"Sure, why not?"

"Yes!" Mel exclaimed as the police vehicle drove away.

Krei glances to Cass, "so is that a no on a second date?" she glares at him in response, "okay..alright," he got the hint.

"By the way, I didn't know that you had a niece." Cass was puzzled.  
"What?" she raised an eyebrow.  
"That girl who hangs with Hiro a lot? What was her name?...Arby?"  
"Ari," Cass corrected, "technically she's not my niece, we're just looking after her until we find her folks."

"Huh..I thought you adopted her like my mechanic Steven adopted all of his kids," Krei told her.  
"Huh," Cass had never really thought about 'adopting' Ari, she'd figured that if- _when_ they found Ari's folks she'd go back with them, but if she was right that maybe her folks were gone..Would it alright to just adopt her into the family?

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Hiro, update

Hiro Hamada: My aunt will not be going on a date with Krei anytime soon

Mikan Ferns: *pretends to be shocked*

Sara Ferns: THANK GOD

TheLittleMermaid: I am still mad you hung up on me!  
Hiro Hamada: Sorry Ari

Gogo: I feel like we should be mad that you followed Aunt Cass on her date, because it's an invasion of privacy and what did we say about boundaries

Hiro Hamada: I've learned my lesson!

TheLittleMermaid: Sure jan -_-

Sara Ferns: I am so confused

Mikan Ferns: Did your aunt at least enjoy her date?

Hiro Hamada: She said she did until Mel impostered Krei and finding out that Krei tricked Mel into selling his invention

TheLittleMermaid: And of course..killer drones!  
Sara Ferns: I am not surprised

* * *

Cass seemed to be over Krei overnight, she was washing the windows with happiness as if the disaster of a date didn't happen. She even told them that they'd be having another movie night! Ari teased Hiro about it, joking if he was going to take forever putting on his movie clothes.

"So..how would you feel if Cass went on a date with someone that wasn't a jerk CEO?" she asked him.

"Meh," Hiro shrugged, "I wouldn't mind her dating because I need my space, but I'll stay out of her love life next time."  
Ari snickered, "aww were you trying to set up your aunt?"  
Hiro turned red with embarrassment, "I'm going to the garage!" he exited the cafe, dragging Baymax with him. As he left, Cass entered the cafe with a few papers in her hands.  
"Wonder what's the rush?" She stared at the direction Hiro bolted from, "also I got a letter in the mail for you Ari."  
She stood up, and walked over to retrieve the letter, a big smile was on her face when she saw the address on it, "awww she did send me a letter after all! The mail must come quick!"

"Who sent you a letter?" Cass raised an eyebrow, now it was Ari's turn to go red with embarrassment.  
"Umm gotta read so I can reply back heading upstairs!" and she sped up the stairs, Cass just shook her head.  
"I wonder if the kids took a liking to coffee this morning," she hummed, "they're rather hyper today."

When Ari got upstairs, she opened the letter with glee. Her happiness over the letter was because it was from the person she had a crush on.  
"Though she'd forgotten about it after last visit, since she was upset I left in a hurry," Ari was still upset that Mikan didn't pick her up that day so she had to take the bus home. But since Mikan was a busy college student, and even busier since she had been going to help her dad a lot the past few days, maybe sending letters was a better method of communication. On the plus side, her friends would stop getting suspicious when she and Mikan left to go on a "shopping trip", at least Gogo didn't interrogate her about it. But sooner or later she knew that she'd have to confess to Hiro, it was getting tiring lying to her friends, _maybe I'll tell him if he tells me what he does in the garage all the time and vice-versa_. Ari decided to stop procrastination and just read the darn letter!  
"Oh wow her writing is so pretty," she noted, smiling as she began to read the letter.

_Dear Ariel aka Ari_

_I hope this letter comes out in one piece in the mail, I haven't sent a letter in years! But I'm pretty sure it'll be fine, I hope you send a letter back! I know you can't visit very often, so maybe we can be pen pals. It'll at least cure my boredom! They always talk about how bland the food is in jail, but they forget to mention how boring jail is! I have no one else to talk to, well except my mom but she still isn't admitting what she did so it's mostly bickering. Uhhhg, enough about my complaining, I hope you are doing well! Last time you visited you told me that you're having a memory loss problem, so I hope you're doing better, though I wonder what kind of wall you hit to cause you to lose your memories? Did you hit another tree?_

Ari snickered, "oh I wish, though I'm starting to theorize I had my memory wiped..because of how groggy I was when I was in the cell."

_I have no other idea what else to write, so I might as well tell you about my new next door cellmate. I think his name is Mel?..He creeps me out, always mentions surprise parties, I hope he doesn't find out that I hate surprise parties. Also he mentioned something about deadly buddy guards? If you know any information about that, please explain if you send a letter, I am just confused. Better wrap this up soon, I'm running out of paper._

_Hope to hear from you again soon!_

_From Juniper_

She reread the letter a few times, smiling and grinning as she did so, "of course I will send you a letter back." There was a blush on her face, "I better get to that, maybe after movie night, so I have the house to myself while everyone's asleep."

Ari gave a lovestruck sigh, maybe she'd have better luck with love than Cass had…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just a meme
> 
> Sure there's bit ol' angst at the beginning, but this chapter is mostly a meme.


	23. Chapter 22: (The Impatient Patient) Jack Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mad Jacks attack! Hiro gets sick!

Hiro tapped his pen with impatience, waiting for Professor Sally Ferns to finish up her lecture. He'd normally focus as she was a teacher who had a tendency to surprise the class with pop quizzes, but this was a class he excelled in so he didn't care.  
"Class dismissed, I hope you all took notes because you may have a test next week," the class groaned, "yeah yeah, make sure to at least study." His classmates picked up their backpacks and exited the door, already planning study groups and all nighters. Hiro began to follow, but he stopped at the teacher's desk.

"Hmm?" Sally looked up, her golden eyes staring back at him, "is there something you need? Are you alright Hiro?"  
"Oh, I'm fine Professor Ferns," he shrugged, "just wanted to ask you something."  
"You're a friend to my kids, you can just call me Sally," she smirked, "what is it that you need? If it's related to the upcoming test I can't tell you what specific questions will be on it."  
"Not that," Hiro shook his head, "it's about something Mikan mentioned to me the other day, and it's been on my mind as of late."

"Ah yes, Mikan has been acting strange of late," he noticed that Sally's eyes had darkened, "always claiming to be on errands for her father...I hope she hasn't been bothering you."  
"No no, she just asked me how I felt about Ari," he explained, "I told Mikan that she was just a friend but she said otherwise, it's complicated."  
"Mhhhm," Sally nodded, "I think perhaps you should speak to Ari about this, maybe she's feeling the same way, and you both might be able to find an answer."  
Hiro thought about it, that sounded like a good idea to him. But he worried it would stress Ari further, she hadn't remembered anything in a while, so it was starting to get him worried. No what she needed was some rest, he could figure this out on his own.  
"Okay, great talk professor, have a good day," he smiled and waved as he exited the class.  
"Have a good day too Hiro," Sally waved back when he left, now she was the only one in the classroom until her next class started. "Now I might be able to get some work done," she huffed.

However Hiro mentioning her semi-adopted child Mikan made her think about the girl, she was still doing well in her classes, and didn't cause any problems most of the time with the other students. But recently, there was something off about her, and not just her trips with Ari every now and then, she knew where they were going and even approved. No, the real problem was Mikan's father, someone she's known for years. Sally didn't know what kind of project he was doing that seemed to take all of Mikan's time, but she didn't like it, not one bit.

"Annnd now I sound like a conspiracy theorist," she facepalmed, "what am I thinking?! It's probably just something harmless."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: David's been hit by a cold

Honey Lemon: Awww hope he gets well soon : (

TheLittleMermaid: I never get sick! Maybe I'll visit!  
Wasabi: Tell him to get some rest

Sara Ferns: He's been so tired lately, so he's been sleeping all day

Hiro Hamada: David? Tired?

Sara Ferns: Dude have you seen the bags under his eyes? He and Mika match!  
Wasabi: Why is Mikan tired?

Mikan Ferns: Why is Mikan being mentioned?

Sara Ferns: WHERE DID YOU COME FROM

Mikan Ferns: I'm the admin, I see all. And I do not like being the topic of gossip

TheLittleMermaid: Did you get a cold too?

Mikan Ferns: Nope, I scare the germs away

Sara Ferns: Huh, no wonder Karmi's intimidated by you

TheLittleMermaid: That's kind of mean

Mikan Ferns: ROFL

* * *

Late that night, the San Fransokyo bay was empty. Fog permeated the city and spread into the sea, the only movement was the yacht Krei Fisher.

"Air feels cold tonight," Steven sighed, he was on the yacht for any maintenance, and frankly he wished that his boss just left him at home. He didn't know what this was for, but he knew that it was shady.

His boss Alistair Krei was staring into the sea with his binoculars, "alright, now we're here, now what?" He lowered the binoculars as the boat stopped.

"We wait?" Judy questioned, surprising Krei as he yelped and dropped the binoculars. Steven chuckled as he was inspecting the deck.

"Don't do that!" Krei turned to Judy, "didn't know you were back there."  
"Talk to yourself much?" Judy raised an eyebrow.  
"No, I was thinking out loud," Krei's phone beeps, and he goes to answer it, "this is Krei."  
" _I see you have reached the drop point,_ " the voice was distorted and deep, Steven frowned. There was a feeling of dread in his stomach as his boss continued to talk to whomever on the phone.  
"Couldn't we have done this in the office?"  
" _No, you will transfer the funds._ "

"How do I know you'll deliver? This is a staggering large amount of cash."

" _That is why it was the winning bid._ "

Krei sighed, and transferred the money, "done."  
"And?" Judy stared at her boss.  
"I think we continue to wait," Steven spoke up, but a noise caught his attention, "do you hear that?"  
Krei stared into the sea and saw a missile heading straight for the yacht! "Aah! Hit the deck!" He yelped, curling into a ball and bracing for impact.

But nothing happened, "you might want to see this," Judy told him, Krei got up and saw that missile stopped beside the boat. It beeped, opening up and a mechanical arm handed Krei a blue chip.

"Ha-hah it's good to win," he smirked as he held the chip.

Steven just rolled his eyes, _don't think you won yet boss,_ he thought. _These kinds of deals tend to bring trouble._

* * *

"Yeah, got our target." Elsewhere, three individuals were high fiving and armoring up to carry out their next mission. They had to obtain the chip that Krei just got, "let's fly." Their blonde haired leader ordered.

* * *

"Anyways, I'm going to head inside, it is freezing out here!" Krei exclaimed, heading inside the yacht, Judy followed suit.  
"You coming in as well Steven?" she turned to the mechanic, who was staring out into the sea.  
"Nah," he told her, "I don't mind the cold, could use some fresh air."

"Suit yourself," and she went inside, leaving Steven on the front deck all by himself.

He took a deep breath of the cold air, "aah, the chill makes me feel young again," Steven hummed.

Another noise brought his attention, "huh?" Steven saw something moving in the fog, it looked to be three humans wearing jetpacks. _What the heck?_

"Triple pound!" the blonde haired one fist bumped his other two teammates.

"Jacks rule!" they all exclaimed, _oh noooo.._ Steven realized far too late what was about to happen.

The blonde fired a laser at the front of the yacht, causing it to spin, Steven yelped and grabbed onto the railing.  
"I'm gonna hurl," he felt nauseous as the other two hooked the sides of the boat causing it to stop, "never mind," guess his stomach would live another day.

"That's the stuff!" the blonde exclaimed, but then saw something heading his way, "ooh!" Two familiar superheroes that Steven recognized as the purple and red members of Big Hero 6 flew into the scene.

They broke the wires that hooked the ship down, "phew," Steven gave a sigh of relief knowing that the superheroes were here to save the day.

* * *

"Hah! Nice job Baymax!" Hiro smiled at the robot, he held a hand to his helm, eavesdropping on the jetpack people's communication.  
"Look sharp Jack,"  
"Roger that Jack, Jaq you got this?"  
"Copy Jack," a woman with tan skin and brown hair shaved on the right side crashed into them, sending Hiro and Baymax into the freezing water.

"Nailed it Jaq," her teammate, a muscular bald man with dark skin gave her a fist bump.  
"Back at ya, Jack."

They all were knocked away when Baymax flew out of the water, Hiro coughed as they reasurrfaced. Baymax stared at him but he gave the robot a reassuring smile, then was nabbed by the leader, "aah!"  
"Lesson one: Don't mess with the Mad Jacks," the leader glared down at him as he dragged Hiro upwards by his foot.  
"Jacks rule!" Both of his teammates exclaimed.

"Wait, so you're all named Jack?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, my real name's Greg," was his response, "but I go by Jack. Team cohesion man!"  
"Well uh..that makes no sense,"

"Yeah well..you make no sense," and Greg dropped him.

Hiro screamed as he fell, "Aaaaah! Baymax!" he yelled for help, "aaah!" the robot scooped him up before he could plummet into the water.

"Ah, thanks," Hiro sneezed.  
" _You have sneezed,_ " Baymax stated, " _a sneeze is a semi-_ "

Hiro climbed back on Baymax's back, "I'm fine, come on we have to check out that yacht," they landed on the deck.

" _I am scanning the occupants, one of them is.._ " the front door opens, " _Alistair Krei._ "

"Welcome...aboard," the CEO greeted them.

"Is this another revenge against you thing?" Hiro narrowed his eyes.

"No?" a laser fired nearby the yacht.

"Unethical business deal?"  
"That is offensive and also no."

Steven coughed, "liar," he muttered under his breath from inside the yacht, he was taking cover from all the lasers firing outside!

"Then what?" Hiro questioned.

"Look, I was out on the bay enjoying my yacht. Krei Fisher, and then those flying maniacs swooped in." another blast shook the boat, "aah!" Krei fell overboard, but Baymax managed to grab his leg, however the top half of his body got soaked.

Baymax places a life vest on Krei, " _it is advisable to wear a flotation device, when boating._ "

"Noted," Krei grumbled, another laser blast causes him to retreat back inside so he doesn't fall overboard again.

The boat drives away from the Mad Jacks, who fly after them.

"Baymax, I'm thinkin rocket fist," Hiro tells the robot, who stares at the approaching enemies.

" _Three targets will require precise timing,_ "

They waited for a few moments, until the targets on Baymax's visor aligned, "now!" Hiro ordered. The rocket fist hit Greg, who bumped into Jack and Jaq and they fell into the water.

"Heh, nice shot! That had to hurt!" Hiro chuckled.

The rocket fist went back to Baymax. " _I do not detect any major injuries._ "

"Bet they're mad though!"  
Silence greeted his response, Baymax blinked at him.

"Mad...Jacks? Because they're-" he continued to get blinking, "never mind," Hiro gave up on explaining the joke to the robot.

They kept a watchful eye on the yacht as it landed on the docks, Krei and his assistant Judy exited. Steven however, had to repair some of the damage the Mad Jacks left.  
"I am not paid enough for this...stupid Mad Jacks," he grumbled as he got his toolkit and went to work, Hiro felt bad for the mechanic.

He landed on the ground and turned to the CEO, "Mr. Krei, are you sure there's nothing you want to tell us?" He knew Krei was hiding something, his bet was on an unethical business deal.

"Uh, there is one thing-" Judy speaks up but her boss cuts her off.

"Good night!"  
Hiro sneezes again, but Baymax covers it. " _Hiro, I am detecting unusually thick mucus in your nasal membranes._ "

"Well that's disgusting," Krei flinches, "no viruses around the CEO. That's the rule, good night."  
"Oohkay, let's go Baymax,"

" _I will monitor your symptoms_." They both fly off into the night.

"Why didn't you tell them?" Judy questioned her boss, "I mean they did save you."  
"I do not need that kid lecturing me about how 'that technology is too risky,'" Krei argued.

"Is it risky?" Judy raised an eyebrow.

"No risk, no reward," he pulls out the chip, but places it back in his blazer as Fred lands on the ground next to them.

"What I'd miss?!" Fred looks around, "aww man.." he realized he missed the fight and jumped away.

* * *

The next morning, Hiro couldn't breathe. His nose was stuffy, he had to take some Afrin just to allow him to breathe through his nose without struggling to.

"You alright Hiro?" Ari asked him, she stayed a few feet away from him for some reason, "you sound a little sick."  
"I'm fine Ari," Hiro sniffled, "just a stuffy nose."  
"Huh," she raised an eyebrow, "well I'll visit you at the lab later today, hope your nose clears up."

"Uh huh," Hiro nodded, grabbing his things and heading out of the cafe door, he wasn't sick. He just had a stuffy nose.

Everyone else at school however...thought otherwise, all he did at the cafeteria was pick an orange instead of an apple.

"Hiro, what did you just do?" Karmi walked up to him, her usual lunch diet already on her tray.

"Uh, changed my mind?" he didn't know why she was getting on his case about it.

"You touched the apple!"  
"But I decided I wanted the orange," Hiro argued, "There-there's no comparison really, it's apples and oranges, heh."  
"Do you know how many microbes you left on that apple?" Karmi narrows her eyes at him.

"No, but I bet you do Karmi," what was the big deal?  
"This is cold and flu season, all it takes is one careless-" he sniffles and Karmi drops her tray, she stares at him with wide eyes and tiptoes away.

"Come on it was one sniff!" He exclaims.

His sniffles hadn't improved at all, and now he felt hot and sweaty when he got to the Robotics lab. Hiro shivered, despite feeling warm, his body ached as he went into the lab.

"Hi Hiro, aww are you feeling okay?" Honey Lemon called to him, she took off one of her gloves and felt his forehead, "hm, you feel a little warm."  
"You look like death, go home," Gogo walked past him.

"Why does everyone think I'm sick?" Hiro rubbed his nose with his jacket sleeve.

"Because you look sick?" Ari told him. She was playing on a DS with Fred, in some sort of competitive battle. "Not a good idea to push yourself! I tried once to force myself to remember something and all I got was a super bad migraine, get some rest!"  
"Yeah Hiro," Fred nodded beside her, "plus I never get sick."

"Really?" Ari raised an eyebrow.  
He nodded as he played his game, "every year, I get stung by an irradiated bee so I'm protected."  
"An irradiated bee?" Gogo narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah, I close my eyes, the doctor says I'll feel a pinch, and then-"  
"Fred, that's a flu shot," she tells him.

"No! Irradiated bee!" Fred grumbles and goes back to his game, "that's what my mom says."  
Ari rubs her right arm, wincing, "hey R, you okay?" Fred glanced over to her in concern.

"Oh, um..when you mentioned a flu shot.. I remembered this time I had like...several vaccinations at once..I think maybe four..it hurt a lot because it was one after another."  
Fred winced, "ouch..that's a painful memory, why four?"  
"To keep me healthy?" Ari was confused, "I think I got sick a lot as a kid or something, maybe didn't get a vaccination one year and had to get extra another? Well at least I remember another thing!"  
"Nice keeping it positive," Fred gives her a high five, "a positive memory is a good memory."  
"Mhmm," their attention was averted by a loud scream by Wasabi, because Hiro had sneezed on his new computer in an accident which freaked him out.

" _I am concerned about the sneezing,_ " Baymax states, as Wasabi runs out of the lab to clean his computer of germs, " _also, the screaming._ "

"I am going to drag Mikan herself over here to get you to rest Hiro," Ari grumbled.  
"Can't," Gogo tells her, "she isn't here today."  
Honey Lemon frowned, "that's odd, had she caught a cold from David? I know he's sick too."  
Gogo shrugged in response.

* * *

Where Mikan was, however, was not lying in bed to recover from any hypothetical cold, she was helping her father in his latest scheme.

Speaking of that, there was an incoming transmission, he opened the call and Greg of the Mad Jacks answered from the other line.

"Situation report, um let's see.." Greg began to explain, "at approximately t-twenty three hundred hours-"  
Obake brings up an image of the purple armored leader and his red robot friend, "you were defeated by a child," he raised his eyebrow.

"A really small child too," Mikan speaks up from behind, but her dad gestures for her to be quiet during the call.

"The kid had a robot!" Jaq chimes in.

"Yeah, tell him about the bot!" Jack adds in, they both pop in next to Greg.

"Finish the job, understand?" Obake tells them, "finish...it!"  
Both Jack and Jaq cower behind Greg, "roger that good copy. Mad Jacks out," he ends the call.

"Wow, bunch of chickens for a bunch of high action daredevils," Mikan snickers, "you sure showed them dad."

He smirks, "well, they are at least perfect for the job," Mikan could agree, the Mad Jack commercial was "perfect" in both their eyes. Obake brings up on one of the monitors, an image he captured of the purple leader of Big Hero 6. The one who captured his eye, "such a tenacious young man. What would it take, I wonder, to lay you low?" He zooms in on his face.

"You're sure that this kid can help with whatever your plans are?" Mikan raised an eyebrow, she didn't see much in Big Hero 6, besides the fact her siblings David and Sara admired them, though her other sister thought of them as an annoyance. "I could help too.."  
"No, you need to work on your schoolwork, gathering information for me." Obake walks up to her and places a hand on her shoulder, "trust me Mikan, you are a great service to my plans."

"I know dad," Mikan smiles, "I wish you'd tell me about them other than they 'will help my future' or something along the lines, but I trust you."

She chuckled, "though don't tell me who Big Hero 6 is, I don't care about them and frankly, whoever that purple one is can't be any better than me!"

* * *

Hiro sneezed, he groaned as he was lying down in bed, a box of tissues on his nightstand.

* * *

When Ari woke up, she saw poor Hiro lying in bed weak with illness. Nothing dire but he sweated and shivered in bed, when Cass went upstairs and saw his state, she took him to the doctor's and brought Baymax along. Ari stayed at the cafe, not wanting to catch Hiro's illness, and moved a sleeping bag to the living room, she was not going to get sick today! When Cass came back from the doctors, which Ari thought was a waste of time since they already had a healthcare robot at home, she learned Hiro was suffering from a fever. She just told him to get some rest and left him upstairs.

Hiro did not blame Ari for avoiding him, he didn't want her to get sick either, he got his computer and went into a call with his friends.  
"Hey Hiro!" Fred, Honey Lemon, and Gogo waved.  
"You feeling any better?" Honey Lemon asked him.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," Hiro nodded, he wasn't feeling better but that wasn't important right now.

"I managed to do some research on the Mad Jacks like you asked!" Fred told him, he looked at Hiro's room, "is Ari there with you?"  
"She's not, what did you find out Fred?"  
"The Mad Jacks are an elite shadow ops-" a cup of tea blocks the screen.

Baymax holds a cup of tea, " _Hiro, I have brewed tea for you._ "

He pushes it away, "uh, no thanks Baymax, I'm not thirsty."  
" _A patient with a viral infection should drink plenty of liquids_."

Hiro grabs the tea and places it next to him, "okay I'll drink it later."  
"Hey, where's Wasabi?" Gogo questioned.

Speaking of the devil, he enters the call, "one more pass with the sanitizer, and-" he stops cleaning his computer and looks up. "Oh, hey, sorry I'm late."

Hiro turns behind him to see Baymax fluffing up his pillows, " _Hiro, a patient diagnosed with a viral infection should rest._ "

"A viral infection?! It was a brand new computer!" Wasabi closes the call, but opens it up, "oh, and feel better Hiro," and closes the call again.

"I don't think he's rejoining the call," Honey Lemon frowns.  
"Yeah...we'll tell him what we found out later," Gogo shrugs, "Fred, spill."  
"Okay, here's what I dug up," Fred brings up a link on the call. "The Mad Jacks not only have a website, they have a theme song!"  
He clicks the video, which blasts them with rock.

_When you need down and dirty action_

_Mad Jacks!  
With a guaranteed satisfaction_

_Mad Jacks!  
Who's got might to the max?_

_Massive surprise attacks!_  
Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Jacks!  
"You got a mission? Don't sweat it, we'll crank it up to Jacks-imum overdrive!" Greg advertises.

"Jack Attack!" All three of the Mad Jacks exclaim.

There's an explosion as the song ends.

_Mad Jacks!_

There is a little paragraph of words following the end of the song. "The Mad Jacks are a high octane action team. They will wreak havoc. The Mad Jacks will not be held responsible for said havoc, but it will be awesome. All payments are made to The Mad Jack's, LLC. Offer for hire is on a first come, highest bidder system. Jet fuel is attached to all hires invoices along with passport costs. Costs of plane tickets included in fee, but special terms and conditions may apply. This life is not for everyone. This life is definitely not because you lost a puppy when you were a kid but your parents refused to address your grieving emotional state, which later manifested in a repeat pattern of negative ways to get attention." There were more words at the bottom but it went too quick for him to process the entire paragraph.

Hiro stared at the screen with wide eyes, clearly shocked at what he just watched. Honey Lemon stared shocked as well.

Gogo however had a deadpan look on her face, "wow, somebody's been pounding too many sports drinks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find this chapter ironic because Hiro gets sick this chapter..and the whole planet is on quarantine over a sickness.  
> At least Ari is practicing social distancing  
> ...  
> I'm terrible


	24. Chapter 23: (The Impatient Patient) Package Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mad Jacks attack again and Hiro finds a way to help while he's sick

"Hey Hiro, I made you some soup," Ari walked up to him holding a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

He sneezed, "oh, thanks Ari," he'd been stuck in bed _all_ day. It was most likely evening judging by how darker the sky was outside his window. He didn't have much to do after ending the call with his friends after all.

"Are you feeling better soon?" Ari had a look of concern on her face, "do you need me to get Baymax?"  
"I'm feeling a little better, you don't have to get Baymax," Hiro told her, he wasn't that sick, he sneezed again and Ari took a few steps back. "Oh sorry."  
"It's fine," Ari started dusting her sleeves, "you get some rest." She walked over and adjusted his blankets in an attempt to warm him up.

"Alright," Hiro mumbled, giving a small wave as she went back downstairs. He'd try to stay in bed, until there was any sign of the Mad Jacks like he told the others would happen, it was inevitable.

* * *

" _Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Jacks-_ " Krei closes the video, he too had been poking for information about the Mad Jacks.

"I'll admit, their theme song is catchy," he holds the chip in his hand, "it'll be there all week."

"Do you know it costs a small fortune to hire these Mad Jack guys?" Judy questions, looking a little concerned for her boss's safety.

Krei didn't look bothered, "it's good to know that someone thinks that I'm worth the effort."

"They think that chip you have is worth the effort."  
"Well they're not getting it!" Krei exclaims, "I bested every black market bid for this chip! It is the cutting edge, it is the future."  
Judy shakes her head, "and you have no idea what it does."  
"No," Krei acknowledges, "but I will, the next step is to have my tech security team to analyze it."

"That's surprisingly cautious of you," Judy notes.  
"Well I had my mechanic pestering me about the chip, for some reason." Krei explained, "and I am cautious-"

He's cut off by the sound of two of the Mad Jacks, Jaq and Jack, slamming into the office windows. The glass strong enough to keep them out, they slide out of sight. "I upgraded my office windows, impermeable."  
"Just your office windows?" Judy raises an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah? Why?" There was a crash sound from downstairs.

"Did you by any chance upgrade your floor?" Judy stares at the floor, as the leader of the Mad Jacks emerges from the floor, with a certain mechanic snatched up by his left arm.

"I see what you mean aaah!" Krei yelps as Greg grabs him and flies down the hole.

"Oh dear.." Judy winced, seeing as Steven and Krei were just abducted by the Mad Jacks. She did not want to be the one to tell Sally the bad news.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiro couldn't sleep, he had to stay up in case anything happened.

"All units, disturbance reported at Krei-Tech Industries," he had hacked into the police radio so he could hear if anything happened.  
"Something's up..I knew it," Hiro mumbled, his face lying on his pillow.

"Reports of an aerial attack-"  
"Mad Jacks!" Hiro shoots up out of bed, as he gets up he makes eye contact with Baymax's charging station. The robot was deactivated and "asleep" for a better lack of a term, he knew Baymax would try to stop him from going to help. So he'd have to solo it, nothing could go wrong right?

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hey Sara, you alright?

Sara Ferns: NO

Sara Ferns: MY UNCLE GOT KIDNAPPED BY JETPACK PEOPLE AAAAAAAAAA

Wasabi: WHAT

Honey Lemon: 0_0

Sara Ferns: THIS IS ALL KREI'S FAULT

Fredilicous24: Steven got kidnapped by the Mad Jacks?!

Mikan Ferns: How do you know their names

TheLittleMermaid: Who?

Sara Ferns: Brb going to sob into a corner

Wasabi: Wait, Mikan you know who the Mad Jacks are?

Mikan Ferns: Not personally! I just heard of them once!  
Honey Lemon: I'm sure it'll all work out guys!  
TheLittleMermaid: Also guys can you come over to visit Hiro? We got back from the doctors and he broke his leg somehow : (

Fredilicous24: What happened?

TheLittleMermaid: Idk, he said video game accident but I think he's lying. I'll leave him alone for the day but you guys should visit

Wasabi: We'll try to

* * *

"Almost done, and there!" Honey Lemon beamed, her, Gogo, Wasabi, and Fred were visiting Hiro as he was resting his broken leg. Which was broken after a late night encounter with the Mad Jacks, and his leg broke when Jack tossed him into a dumpster. Honey Lemon was currently decorating his cast with smiling lemon faces.

"A smile helps you heal! Now get well soon Hiro," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, and quit doing dumb stuff," Gogo adds in, as she fluffend up his pillows a little.

"Seriously, can't be too careful," Wasabi chimes, he's wearing a mask to avoid getting sick.

Fred swerves in a chair close to the bed, "It's outrageous! To sneak outside in your condition, to chase down flying daredevils and not call me?! Uhg, there are no words."  
"Not now Fred," Gogo rolled her eyes, bothered that Fred was annoyed he wasn't invited rather than Hiro snuck out while he was sick.

"Hey I knew that Krei was in danger!' Hiro exclaimed.

"And you had to prove you were right," Gogo shook her head.

"I was right! And now ah-" He flinched in pain as he tried moving his leg, but Baymax held the cast.

" _Your leg should remain elevated,_ " Baymax places Hiro's leg back on a pillow to keep it safe, " _also, you still require fluids and rest._ " Baymax takes a cup of tea from Honey Lemon and hands it to Hiro.

"Fine.." Hiro grumbles, "but we got to rescue Krei, and also Steven," he felt guilty remembering that Sara's uncle got abducted by the Mad Jacks for some reason.

"We know and we'll try," Wasabi tells him, "the healthcare companion has spoken people, visiting hours are over."

"Right, rest up!"

"And wise up."  
"And no secret missions!" Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Fred begin to exit, the latter leans in to whisper, "but if there are, you got my digits right?"  
Hiro sighed and rolled his eyes at Fred who is being dragged away by Gogo, "Krei's the one in danger! Not me!"

" _This situation requires persistence,_ " Baymax states.

Hiro attempts to climb out of bed, "I know, that's why I can't just give up."  
Baymax grabs Hiro and places him back on the bed and puts his broken foot on the pillow, " _persistence is part of my healthcare matrix._ "

Hiro sighed in frustration, he was not getting back into the fight anytime soon.

* * *

Steven was not having a fun time.

First he got kidnapped by the Mad Jacks, second he was kidnapped with his headache of a boss, thirdly the Mad Jacks were forcing him to do maintenance on their ship! Could he catch a break already!?

 _If I don't get a break after this, I am tempted to call it quits,_ Steven thought as he worked, but deep down he knew it wasn't possible. As much as working at Krei-Tech was tiresome, it helped pay the bills. He wasn't a flying daredevil like the Mad Jacks who charged thousands of dollars.

Speaking of the Mad Jacks..

"Great works Jacks!" their leader Greg was drinking some kind of sport drinks from a mug for some reason.

"Rendezvous status?" Jaq asked as she lifted weights.

"Unknown, client's gone radio silent."  
"Dude's creepy."  
"Hm, roger that."

Steven rolled his eyes, _so I guess whoever hired the Mad Jacks isn't the nicest guy,_ he thought.

"Aah!" He turned his head to see Krei almost falling out of the Mad Jacks airship, but Greg caught him, grabbed him and tossed him to the floor.

"Okay suit," Greg cracks his knuckles.  
"It's actually more of a blazer," Krei gestures to his outfit.

Jack leans in to whisper to Krei, "look, our employer just wants the chip."  
"And he's kind of a freak," Jaq adds in.

"Why did you kidnap me then?! I have three kids to feed y'know!" Steven exclaims, crossing his arms in anger.

"Needed a tune up on things," Greg shrugged, then turned back to Krei. "So, I'd hand over the chip if I were you."  
Krei does with reluctance, "aha-ha-ha-ha-ha, I'd love to know who that employer is…"

"Not a chance," Greg and Krei have a tug-of-war over the chip but Greg manages to snatch it, "the Mad Jacks are discreet!"  
Krei grumbles, raising an eyebrow as Jaq and Jack fist bump each other, "real discreet alright.."  
"Can I go home now?" Steven raises a hand.

* * *

Later that night, Hiro is still under the covers resting but he couldn't sleep. Then his phone buzzes, he reaches a hand out of his blanket cocoon to answer it, "hello?" his voice was groggy.

" _Haha hello, funny thing, I could really use Big Hero 6._ "  
Hiro leaps up at the voice, "Mr. Krei?"  
" _Yes! I've got a problem,_ " Krei sighs, " _first of all, they ruined my blazer!_ " His blazer was suspended on the top pole of Krei-Tech Industries, " _second of all they kidnapped my mechanic!_ " He glances down at Steven who's taking a nap next to the pole instead of getting him down!  
" _And then they took the chip I won!_ "  
"The chip?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, "is that what you were hiding?"  
Krei groans from the other line, " _..maybe, the point is I need Big Hero 6's help to get it back! Do you know how expensive it was?!_ "  
Hiro rolled his eyes, he'd have to call the others, less he relive the experience of Jack tossing in a dumpster and breaking his leg again.

* * *

" _Big Hero 6! Fighting for the right! Searching through the night! Mad Jacks are the mercs! Bunchy of flying jerks!_ " Fred sang as he jumped through the city looking around for the Mad Jacks.

"Who have the chip and could be anywhere," Hiro grumbled in frustration at not being there. He was on the computer, wearing his superhero helmet and on the call with his friends.

"I'll incorporate that into my song, but make it rhyme!" Fred notes, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Gogo was skating through the streets, "we just have to cover as much ground as we can, as fast as we can!"

"They should be easy to spot!" Honey Lemon exclaims.

"Yeah, flying jetpack people should stand out," Wasabi nods, holding the GPS tracker.

The taxi driver adjusts the mirror window, "masquerade ball?"  
"Sure, let's go with that," Wasabi replies, neither he nor Honey Lemon had any mode of transportation they could use, so they had to resort to a cab.

"Picking up anything, Baymax?" Hiro questions, looking at the dots of his friends travelling through the city.

" _No, I have not detected the jet turbines,_ " was the response.

"How could you guys possibly search the entire city-" Hiro coughs, "I should be out there helping you."

" _That would be counterproductive to your recovery,_ " Baymax tells him.

"I know, I know, in bed, leg elevated," he was using another computer chair to elevate his leg.

"Get some rest Hiro," Gogo told him as he ended the call. It wasn't fair, he should help as well! But, it would only hurt everyone else if he tried to go in his condition, "hmm, I'll get rest..right after I do this thing." He smirks as he gets an idea on what to do.

As Hiro worked in the garage, he used a wooden oar to navigate so he could keep his broken leg elevated as he worked on something to help out without being there in person.

* * *

Meanwhile..The Mad Jacks were flying in silence, their jetpacks turned off as they parachuted on top of a warehouse.

* * *

"I'm coming up empty," Fred grumbled in another location, "dang it I just know the Mad Jacks are making their move somewhere!"

* * *

The Mad Jacks crawl on top of the warehouse, using hand gestures to communicate and not alert anyone with noise. Greg gestures for Jack and Jaq to stay put as he creeps toward and cuts a hole in the skylight with his laser. But he fails to grab the top and it crashes on the warehouse floor, Greg looks at his teammates who raise an eyebrow at him.

Greg lowers himself towards the floor using his grappling hook, the warehouse was dark. Not a soul in sight, he landed on the ground and tiptoes from corner to corner.

"Good evening," Krei yelped as his employer was one level higher than him. Obake was accompanied by Mikan, who flashed a grin at Greg.

Obake walks forward, "do you come bearing Alistair Krei's black market chip?"

"You hired the Mad Jacks!" Greg gestures to himself, "The Mad Jacks guarantee success! Success and havoc! Ha-ha-ha!" he pulls out the chip from his arm, "and it's always awesome!"  
"Wonderful," Mikan rolled her eyes. Obake and her lowered themselves to the ground using a chain lift.

Obake collects the chip, then clicks his watch which shows several colored lights blinking and moving. "Ooh..Big Hero 6, on the move."  
"Alright focus up, this is how I see it," Greg begins to lay out a plan, "we keep the enemy occupied while you escape with the package, mission accomplished."  
Obake turns off his watch, "super, although.."  
"Ey' my plan is diamond! Flawless!" Greg argues, Mikan suppresses a growl under her throat.

"The security of the package is..paramount," Obake explains.

Greg furrows his brow, "all right, all right, I-I-I hear you, lemme just uh-, okay minor adjustment." He fumbles on his words as he rethinks his plan, "I will keep the package secure until the enemy is neutralized, boo-yah!"  
Obake smirks and hands him back the chip, "wonderful idea."  
"Good catch," Greg is about to leave but he's stopped by Mikan, "er..yes?"

Her green eyes glowed with fury in the dark, "by the way...next time you're in San Fransokyo..if you touch one more hair on Steven Ferns head.." She bares her set of sharp fangs at him, snarling, "I will tear your Mad Jacks limb from limb, starting with _you_...clear?"  
"...Clear.." Greg squeaks, he runs to the skylight and activates his jetpack, "Mad Jacks! Let's fly!"  
Obake flashes an evil grin as he leaves, the left side of his face glowing in it's purple glory.

Mikan pouted, "you always have to steal my evil smirk with your stinkin glowface don't 'cha pops?"  
"Mikan I swear… stop calling me pops."

* * *

The Mad Jacks exit the warehouse roof and fly through the skies, "listen up Jacks!" Greg tells his teammates, "keep your eyes peeled for hostilities!"

"How many Jack?" Jaq questions.

"Well with a handle like Big Hero 6, I'm thinking we're looking somewhere between five and seven."  
Jaq nods, "roger that, perimeter sweep in progress. I will-"  
"Give Fredzilla a piggyback ride? I'm in!" Fred hops on top of her back, weighing her down. Jack flies over and tries to shoot a laser at Fred, but he's stopped by Gogo throwing a disk at him. He hits the wall and lands in a pile of cardboard boxes.

Gogo pops her bubblegum and smirks, Jack flies out of the rubble and chases after Gogo, she skates to avoid the laser blasts and leaps over any obstacles. She throws her disk behind her which ricketshey and hits Jack, "oww!" He lands on top of a box.

"Not cool!" Jaq yells at Fred who's still on top of her, she starts to spin in a circle as she flies.  
"Hey-hey don't make me hurl in here!" Fred becomes nauseous from all the spinning, "aaah-wahh-woah!" He crashes on top of the hood of a taxi car that pulled up to the scene.

Honey Lemon and Wasabi exit the cab, "don't worry Freddie, we're here to help." The former grabs Fred off of the taxi hood.

"Must be some kind of party huh?" The taxi driver raised an eyebrow.

"It usually is," Wasabi hands him a twenty dollar bill, "keep the change."

Baymax lands on the ground as Gogo skids past, dodging a laser. " _It would be preferable to resolve this conflict without violence._ "

An explosion fires behind Baymax, Greg emerges from the smoke, "no way! The violence rocks! It's a major part of the Mad Jack program!" He fires his laser which knocks Baymax into a wall.

"Oh have a taste!" Greg flies over to inspect the damage, "and the bot is down for the count!"

"Not a chance!"

* * *

Greg looks up in shock to see a silhouette, "that bot's been taking care of me.." the figure flies down to reveal a familiar purple superhero, "time for me to return the favor."  
"Hiro?" Honey Lemon's eyes widen.

Wasabi blocks a laser fire with his plasma blades, "Have you lost it?!" he exclaims at Hiro.

" _That is not Hiro,_ " Baymax explains, in reality it was a remote controlled bot that looked like Hiro in his superhero armor.

"Uh I am being the perfect patient," Hiro explained as he used the controller, "leg elevated, plenty of liquids," he took a sip of his tea, "and of course, rest."  
Greg blasts lasers at the bot, Hiro casually drinks his tea as he dodges the lasers.

He grabs Greg's laser out of his hand, crushes it and tosses it to the side. Greg then shoots tasers which stuns the bot.

"Taser, huh, good call," Hiro notes.

Baymax flies up and grabs the taser wires, it has no effect on him, and he chucks it away, "Ooh!" Greg whines as his taser is pulled out his hands

"Thanks Baymax!"  
" _You are welcome._ "

Greg attempts to escape by skyrocketing high with his jetpack, "time to try out the boosters on this thing," Hiro hums, flying after him.

"Oh yeah!" Greg exclaims as he thinks he escaped, "eat my dust!" He chuckles, but bumps into Hiro, "woah!" He tries going the other way but is blocked by Baymax, "the bot!" Both Hiro and Baymax grab him as he tries to fly away, but it results in him breaking his jetpack and he starts plummeting towards the ground.

"Oh Jack down!" His fall is stopped by Baymax scooping him up.

" _Perhaps you should consider less dangerous activities,_ " the robot tells him.

"Maybe you should...think about..whatever," he is unable to come up with a comeback.  
"Krei's chip please," Hiro requests, the leader of the Mad Jacks grumbles and hands him the chip, "thanks, Greg."  
"Wow, that's cold," Greg narrows his eyebrows, "Jack extraction! ASAP!" He slips out of Baymax's grasp and Jack and Jaq pick him up.

_Three times the Jack_

_To watch your back_

_Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Jacks!_

They fly high towards the moon, disappearing into the darkness.

"And I hope we never see them again," Fred stares at the night sky, they were a pain to battle.

Baymax and Hiro land on the ground, "can you guys give this back to Krei?" the latter hands the chip to Gogo.

"No problem," Gogo smirks, "and get some rest robo-genius."  
"Feeling better already," he replies, but his attention is brought by a loud yelp.  
"Hiro! What the heck!" His eyes widen with horror, he looks up to see Ari had come up the stairs! He was so busted, she caught him red-handed, now Ari knows that he's part of Big Hero 6-

"You trying to break another leg?!" Ari grabs his helmet and controller, and shoves it into a box, "Cass told you to not play any leg-breaking video games!"  
Hiro continued to gawk, she..didn't make the connection? "Um...sorry," was all he said.  
"It's fine, I won't tell her," Ari smiles, "get some rest Hiro!" and quick as a whip she heads down the stairs.

"Phew," Hiro gave a sigh of relief. _That was close, note to self if I use the bot again...do it in the garage…_

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: My uncle is safe! Hallelujah!  
Mikan Ferns: "Yay" -David and I

Hiro Hamada: Good to hear! I'm feeling a lot better, I might be able to go to school tomorrow

Mikan Ferns: Me too!  
Gogo: You're sick too, Mikan? Don't you never get sick?

Mikan Ferns: I got a surprise flu! My dad was just taking care of me alright?

Gogo: Fine

Sara Ferns: I hope Big Hero 6 crushes the Mad Jacks for them abducting my uncle = )

Hiro Hamada: o-o

Wasabi: Woah there!  
Mikan Ferns: "Yeah I'm concerned, Sara no" -David

* * *

"And by now, the chip should be back in Alistair's hands," elsewhere Obake smirked as his plan worked. Now all he had to do was wait.

"The moment of truth," Krei is in his office, he holds the chip in his hands.

"The moment when you turn it over to the security team," Judy answers, "like Steven reccomended, instead of doing something stupid."

"Is something wrong Alistair?" Obake walks around his lair, "the reckless tycoon showing caution? Restraint?"

"I need the tech security team."

"But Alistair, remember the abduction, who can you trust? Who's on your side? Who knows?"

Krei frowns, "actually..never mind," he clicks a button on his desk, cancelling his order of calling the security team. "Look, the person who was after this, whoever hired the Mad Jacks.."  
"What about them?" Judy questioned.

"What if they've infiltrated my security team!?"  
"Like what a spy? You're usually not this paranoid,"

Krei swivels in his chair, "hey I was abducted, it does things to you!" He places the chip in his computer, revealing the drive, "I'm not taking any chances."

"There we are, Alistair. That's the stuff," Obake grins, as the chip now shows him Krei and Judy in the office looking at the chip.

"We will be the only ones who see what's on this," Krei opens the drive file, but there were no files found.  
"Nothing?" Judy narrows her eyes.

Krei was distraught, "no, the money, th-the abduction. Everything that happened! It was all for nothing?!"  
"It probably is better that we were the only ones who saw this," Judy notes.

Little did they know that they just gave Obake access to all Krei-Tech had to offer, "so many files, so many secrets!"  
"Ah," he comes across a certain tidbit of information that showed a certain teen genius, and a purple armored superhero, were one and the same.

"Hiro Hamada.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so... Obake knows Hiro's identity now..  
> Insert Baymax "Oh no" here


	25. Chapter 24: (Mr. Sparkles loses his Sparkles): Cat Sitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie and Mochi become cat celebs! Hiro struggles to invent a suit delivery system.

The Lucky Cat Cafe was closing up, the last few customers were finishing up their food and exiting out.  
"What a day," Ari yawned, she had been helping Cass in the cafe out of sheer _boredom_.

"You looked tired Ari," Cass gave her a pat on the shoulder, "you should get some sleep."  
"I will, but I wanna wait for Hiro to get home," Ari mumbled, "I sleep better when I know he's home safe."  
Cass smiled at her, "that's very kind of you sweetie." Their attention is brought by a knock on the cafe door, Cass goes to open it.

"Hello? Oh hi!" she recognized the visitors in a heartbeat, Ari walked over to see who it was.

"Rachel?" Ari raised an eyebrow, the girl was at the door with her mother Sarah, "whatcha doing here so late at night?"

"Well," Rachel gestured to the fluffy blue cat in her arms, "my parents and I are going on a vacation to visit my grandparents and uncle in New York, so..."  
Sarah finishes for her, "so we need a babysitter for Katie cat here,"

Katie scowls, "yes we're talking about you kitten," Sarah crosses her arms, "you picky girl you."  
"Oh of course she can stay with us during your vacation!" Cass responds before Ari could, "it would be an honor to have Katie the Talking Cat around here."  
"Talking Cat?" Ari raised an eyebrow.

"I'm an internet celebrity that speaks human language," Katie speaks up in complete sentences, she turns to Rachel, "I'm shocked you didn't tell her that."  
"She never asked," Rachel shrugged.

"Woahhhh," Ari exclaimed, "that's so cool!" She had never heard of a talking cat before, but anything was possible nowadays.

"Thanks," Katie twitched her whiskers.

Rachel goes inside the cafe, and plops Katie down on one of the tables, "be good alright Katie? No breaking windows again."  
Katie rolled her eyes, "no promises," Rachel huffs, then rejoins her mother outside.  
"Here," Sarah hands Cass several bills of money, "Katie's a pain to look after so here's payment ahead of time."  
"Oh wow," Cass had wide eyes at the money, "are you sure? I don't need that many."

Sarah hums, "I insist, now we have to catch our flight now, my husband will probably contact you about more details when we've recovered from jet lag..If he remembers," both adults chuckle at the joke. "Well best of luck to you,"  
"Enjoy your trip Rachel!" Ari waved to the girl as she and her mother left.  
"Thanks!" she waved back, when they were out of sight, Ari headed back into the cafe.

* * *

"So," Katie meowed, inspecting the cafe, "are you going to enforce any rules on me?"  
"Just don't try any escape attempts," Cass chuckled, "we already get enough from Mochi."  
Ari's eyes widened, "umm Cass? What if Mochi and Katie don't get along?"

Cass frowned, "huh, haven't really thought about that at all, Mochi tends to get along with everyone..then again he hasn't interacted with other cats."

"Speak of the devil," Ari whispers, as the calico cat began walking up to where Katie was perched. Mochi hopped up the table, sniffing the newcomer.  
After what seemed like hours, Mochi purred and gave a happy meow.

"Well, nice to meet you too," Katie smirked.

Both Cass and Ari gave sighs of relief, _it looked like Mochi made a new friend,_ the girl hummed.

At that moment, Hiro and Baymax entered the cafe, looking worse for wear, "Hi Hiro! Hi Baymax!" Ari waved at them, "you doing alright?"  
" _We were-_ "  
"Stuck in traffic!" Hiro cuts off Baymax, placing a hand to the robot's side, "a lot of it downtown, took forever to get out of..heh."  
Cass walked over to give him a hug, "I'm glad you're home safe sweetie," she then turned to the table where the two cats are conversing, "the Rosemarys were here awhile ago to drop off their cat Katie, so we'll be looking after her during their vacation."

"Oh," Hiro hummed, he walked over to the cats, "h-hi Katie."  
Katie twitched her whiskers, "nice to see you again too."

" _Hello,_ " Baymax waved to the cat, who stared at him with curious blue eyes.  
She tilted her head at the robot, "...that looks like a fluffy marshmallow with legs.."  
"I know right?" Hiro mumbled, chuckling, Mochi meowed something as well.  
"Well I'm tired so…." Ari yawned and began walking up the stairs.  
"Wait for us!" Hiro and Baymax followed after her, the former dragging the latter up the stairs and Ari helping him out with that.

"Hm," Katie twitched her tail, "well it's nice to stay at a place that doesn't gawk at the famous speaking feline."  
Her ears perked up at something Mochi meowed, "oh now you tell me.."

* * *

The next morning at the cafe, Ari was explaining last night's events to the rest of the gang, "and she and Mochi get along fine! So it doesn't seem so bad!"  
"You have spoken too soon," Fred declared, "cats are always up to mischief! It's in their blood!"  
"Guilty as charged," all of them yelp in surprise as Katie hops on top of their table and walks to an empty spot, "is this seat taken?"  
" _It is not,_ " Baymax tells her.

Honey Lemon was squealing in excitement when Katie lied down next to her seat, "I can't believe I'm meeting _the_ talking cat in person!" A big smile was on her face, but the feline winced at the loud volume.  
"Is she always this hyper?" Katie's ears flattened.  
"Yep," Gogo nodded.  
"Hooray.."  
At that moment, Cass walked up to the table holding Mochi, "hey gang!"

"Hey Aunt Cass," they all waved at her.

"Just wanted to show you Mochi's latest trick because it's something you must see! I mean well, you don't have to, it's completely optional no presh." She places the cat on the table, who meows with excitement, "is shortening words still a thing?"  
"Oh totes," Fred tells her, "that's short for absolutely."  
"Awww I live for cat videos!" Honey Lemon pulls out her phone to record.

Cass releases the cat from her hold, "okay Mochi, slow clap."  
Mochi begins to clap his paws, slowly, "oooh I wanna try!" Katie purrs, she attempts to do the same thing Mochi does but it's not quite right. Mochi meows something to her, "oh like this?" and soon Katie is slow clapping as well.  
"Aww," Hiro smiled when seeing Mochi help Katie out with the trick.

"Okay it's cute," Gogo admitted, she was smiling a little.  
"Too cute," Wasabi nods.  
"I am totally posting this!" Honey Lemon stops recording and posts the video online.

Cass picks up Mochi and chuckles, "aw, sweet," she walks away.  
"Hey, I didn't say you could post," Katie narrows her eyes at Honey Lemon, "and I could've told you Mochi's opinion about it."  
Honey Lemon had a look of horror on her face, "oh my god I'm so sorry!"

The feline chuckles in response, "nah I'm just messing with you, I don't mind there being an extra video of me floating online, it just increases my fanbase so more people see my handsome face." Katie gestures to her fluffy cheeks.

Ari snorts in response, "isn't handsome a masculine term?"  
"I am not bound by the rules of society, I am a cat, I do what I want."

"Oooh I almost forgot!" Fred pulls out two tickets from his pocket, "I have an extra ticket to Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge."

"Maximum what?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

Fred leans in, "Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge! The number one online game show!" He pulls out his phone to show a clip, "contestants compete in these maximum insane obstacle challenges!"  
"Thus the show's name," Wasabi pointed out.  
"Show good...host bad," Katie grumbles under her breath, loud enough for Ari to hear her, _what's that supposed to mean?_

Fred stared at his phone, "huh, never picked up on that, basically a hidden message."

"Looks fun Fred, but I gotta work on something to deal with our sui….class problem!" Hiro catches himself before spilling anything to the nearby Ari, he grabs Baymax and they head to the garage.

Fred turns to Wasabi, smiling and raising his eyebrows. "I'm busy too Fred," Wasabi tells him, "I'm reorganizing my..organizer!" Wasabi runs off somewhere.

Fred turns to the girls to see if any of them wanted to go, "Ari? I know you're a fan of the show, wanna go?"  
"Can't," Ari explains, "cat sitting remember?" she lifts up Katie, "you have fun without me though!"

"Gogo do you want to go?"  
"Hard pass, no excuse." was Gogo's response.  
"Oh come on, but-" Fred begins to protest.

She gives him a deadpan look, "there's nothing anyone can say that can make me go to a dopey game show."

"Honey Lemon?"  
"I would go Freddie, but I'm throwing a sticker party!" She exclaims, which Gogo flinches at the memory of the last sticker party. So many stickers...everywhere..so colorful..too many stickers.

"I'm in!" Gogo bursts out, "I can't do another sticker party.."  
Fred pumps a fist in the air, "alright! This is gonna be a maximum insane hangout!...No pun intended."  
Katie rolls her eyes in response, "I cannot believe I heard that with my own ears."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Heads up, I'm adding someone new to the group chat

Fredilicous24: Ooooh who is it?

Hiro Hamada: Is it Karmi?

TheLittleMermaid: Why? Do you want her in this chat?

Hiro Hamada: NO! I just want to know who it is

_Mikan Ferns added Rachel Rosemary to the chat_

Mikan Ferns: give our newcomer a hand

Sara Ferns: *gives hand*

Wasabi: Hello!  
Gogo: Is this about the cat sitting thing?

Honey Lemon: Hello newcomer!  
Rachel Rosemary: Howdy

Rachel Rosemary: I asked my friend Ari to get me into this chat so I could have updates on Katie, has she broken anything yet?

Hiro Hamada: No she's mostly been bonding with our cat Mochi

TheLittleMermaid: No property damage yet!  
Rachel Rosemary: Excellent : )

Fredilicous24: Hey Rach! Glad to see you again!  
Rachel Rosemary: Nice to see you too Frederick

Sara Ferns: Finally some new blood around here :3

Wasabi: ...Sara no

Sara Ferns: SARA YES

Rachel Rosemary: goodness gracious

* * *

At the Lucky Cat Cafe, Katie was having the time of her life. She was chilling on the counter with Mochi after a few hours of playing, both cats were tuckered out and just watching the TV.

"Oh look, Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge is on," Ari pointed out, seeing the show logo.

"Ladies and gentlemen today's show is presented by Yaki Taco. Break out of your hard shell," the announcer stated the sponsorship first before panning the camera to the stage. There was laughter heard as the host hopped around the stage, "and now please give a maximum welcome to the insane host: Mr. Sparkles!"  
"Hello Sparkleheads!" the host exclaimed, he was a rather small man with bright pink hair, blue eyes, and a purple outfit. The audience cheered as he showed up on stage, "oh you're too much, you're too much, stop it!"  
"Y'know I don't get why you dislike the host Katie cat," Ari gestured to the dozing feline, who stared at the show with genuine interest.  
"You'll see, he sometimes shows some of his true colors on screen, keep listening in."

"Alright no seriously, I have a hard out at four!" Sparkles relished the applause, "now who's ready to play…"  
"Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge!" the audience exclaimed, Ari squinted to see if she could see Fred or Gogo sitting in the audience, they were seeing it live in person after all. Sparkles chuckled, "oh um, sorry, but do any of you want to host? Last I checked, I'm the one with the magnetic charisma!" The sound of a rooster cawing is heard off screen, Sparkles glances around, "you know what that means? Time to find our first contestant!"

The camera pans to a slide with a rooster on top, a large sized egg comes rolling down the slide. As it hits the bottom, Sparkles picks it up and cracks the top open, then looks inside the shell.  
"Our first contestant is...seat number sixty five!" The camera pans to the audience and shows a spotlight on the lucky contestant, the subtitles on screen declare him a sucker however.

"That's me! That's me!" the contestant, an elderly man sits up, "in your face sixty four!" he rubs it in by a woman sitting next to him, and dances on stage.

"Stay out of my light you mummy," Sparkles mutters as he shoves him out of the spotlight, it was said in a low tone but both Katie and Ari picked it up.  
"Oh..I get it now..I still like this show though," she hums.

Katie chuckles, "nothing wrong with enjoying a show even though the host is a jerk."

"Always stay young at heart!" Sparkles continues to host as the contestant smiles on stage, "now, let's find out today's first challenge, shall we?" He clicks a button and a wheel starts spinning until it lands on chopsticks.

"Sushi Limbo," on screen is shown an animated summary of the course, "how low can your sushi roll? Dodge the chopsticks and don't get dunked in the soy sauce."

The elder man is shoved in front of the obstacle course in a sushi costume, "hey!" He exclaimed. The obstacle course looked like a sushi platter, with moving chopsticks you had to dodge, and below was soy sauce.

"Ready ...set...Limbo!" Sparkles starts the timer, and the man begins to go through the course. It was exhilarating to watch.  
"He's gonna make it!" Ari exclaims, as he was one platform away from the buzzer.  
"Nuh uh," Katie twitches her whiskers, just as the man attempts to press the buzzer he gets picked up by the chopsticks, "told you.." The man is dunked into the soy sauce, the camera pans to the "Maximum Insane Gross Zone", where contestants are splashed by the soy sauce.

"Hey there's Fred and Gogo!" Ari exclaims, recognizing her friends on camera, Fred was smart enough to bring a poncho to protect himself from the soy sauce..Gogo however got soaked, and she could see her friend glaring at Fred.

"Ouch, can relate, I went to one of the shows and got drenched in the splash zone," Katie chuckled, "I've only been to one show so I don't know what it's like sitting in the regular area."

"One show?" Ari raised an eyebrow.

Katie took a breath before explaining, "Rachel won two tickets, and she used the second to take me along, we sat in the gross zone and someone recognized me. There was a lot of buzz, especially when Rachel was picked as a contestant for the "Sugar Rush" course, let's just say the host doesn't like the spotlight being taken off of him...He said some not-so-nice things when the show was over, let's just leave it at that."

She didn't reply, but gave the feline a comforting pat on the head, "there there," in a motion very similar to Baymax. Katie purred in response.

Sparkles continued to host, "here comes the loser hand!" A mechanical hand picked up the elderly man from the soy sauce, as he's brought out of the course a baby's crying could be heard. "Uh-oh, sounds like it's time to feed the baby!"

"Uhg I hate this part," Ari groaned, Katie meowed in agreement.

The announcer brought up the screen and animated summary again, "feed the baby, don your diaper and squirt the food in the baby's mouth. But be careful, he's not feeling well."

"And our lucky baby is…" Sparkles opened up another chicken egg, "two-hundred and three!" the camera panned to show the spotlight was on Gogo!

"Oh my god," Katie gasped, "sucker."

Fred nudged his friend on screen, "go on Gogo feed the baby!"  
"Wait, it's 'Feed the Baby' but I have to wear the diaper?" Gogo looked rather uncomfortable in the spotlight.  
"That's the maximum insane part!"  
"I'm not looking like an idiot in front of millions of people."  
"Don't worry about what other people think Gogo, I mean look at me! I came prepared to be humiliated, it's fun!" Fred stood up and lifted his poncho to reveal he was wearing a diaper already, the subtitles on screen called him a weirdo. _Fred oh my god no,_ Ari chuckled.

Gogo popped her bubblegum, "maximum hard pass!"

"And that's enough TV for me," Katie yawned, stretching her legs, "I need some fresh air, do you mind accompanying me for a walk? I'd like to know about my bestie's new… bestie."  
"Sure, and I'd like to know more about what it's like being a cat!" Ari smiled, picking up the feline.  
"I make it look easier than it is, the cat life is not for everyone."

* * *

In another part of the city, Baymax, Hiro, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi were in a field.

"Hiro, why are we in the middle of a field?" Honey Lemon questioned her friend, he had brought them there but wouldn't explain until they arrived.

Wasabi sneezed, "yeah..the pollen levels are killing my sinuses."  
"This is the best place to demo the long range capability of our new..suit delivery system! So we don't have to run around the city just to get our suits on like last time." Hiro holds out his phone, which Wasabi sneezes on.

"Sorry.." he apologizes as Hiro wipes his phone clean.

" _Nasal spray can help relieve your congestion,_ " Baymax turns one of his fingers into a nasal spray and sticks it in Wasabi's nose.

"Uh..thanks Baymax but I think I'm good," Wasabi turns down the offer.

Hiro started to activate the system, "right now the suits are at Fred's, on the other side of the city." He clicks a button, "now we just wait.."  
After a while, they all looked up to see their respective suits flying towards them, but when the suits landed it equipped the wrong people.

" _There appears to be an error,_ " Baymax was wearing Hiro's armor, which was very tight on the robot's vinyl.

Hiro was in Wasabi's armor, he checked his phone, "sorry guys, uh the code checks out, I don't know why that didn't work."

Honey Lemon walks up to him, covered head to toe in Baymax's armor, "it's just a fluke Hiro, right Wasabi?"  
"Totally, ah-choo!" There was a ripping sound, "oh, I think I felt something pop," Honey Lemon's armor was just too tight for him.

"Don't worry Wasabi," Honey Lemon started to remove Baymax's armor, "let me help you get out of that before something else rips, I can just sew it back anyway!"  
"That would be great…"

The next morning at Honey Lemon and Gogo's shared apartment is the aftermath of the-

"Uhhg, sticker party," Gogo groans as she sees a glasses sticker and a mustache sticker in her mirror, at least she wasn't around during it.

"Gogo come quick!" Honey Lemon's voice brought her attention, "you know how I posted that video of Mochi and Katie slow clapping? It's gone viral!" She shows her the computer screen and the video has almost two million views.

"Wow," Gogo yawned, "I wonder how the talking cat herself feels about this."

* * *

"I regret this," Katie groaned, "so much.." It had only been a few days since that slow clap video had been posted but it brought so many fans to the Lucky Cat! It was killing her with all the buzz!

" _I like the attention,_ " her feline friend Mochi replied, meowing in delight at the customers staring at him, " _it feels nice_."  
"I thought that too when Rachel posted the first talking cat video," Katie twitched her whiskers, "the popularity was nice at first but it's gotten old."

" _Say Katie,_ " Mochi turned to look at her, " _Why did you become an internet celebrity anyways?_ "  
Katie thought back to the memory, "It was to spread awareness about this charity event, people do like to listen to animals. Then some news site caught more information about me and next thing I know I was doing some interviews, though there have been some weirdos who try to 'rescue' me." Katie did finger quotes at the word rescue, "who think they can take better care of me than Rachel," the feline's mood dropped, and Mochi noticed.

" _You don't have to tell me the whole story, I've seen some things,_ " Mochi placed his tail over her in a comforting manner, " _this'll be over before you know it! But at least we have each other's back!_ "

"Thank you," Katie purred, now she felt better that Rachel dropped her off at the Lucky Cat to be looked after. Nothing could go wrong, not with a new furry friend at her side.

* * *

Elsewhere a certain sparkly host was _not_ happy that the spotlight was taken off of him. The slow clap cat video had made the cats look good, but made Sparkles online show low in popularity.

"Hang in there! You're still a star!" Sparkles was wearing a taco costume and talking to himself in the mirror, "no matter how many fair weather fans unfollow you, keep sparkling!"  
There was a knock on his door, "uh, Mr. Sparkles?" A crew member opened the door.

"What is it?" Sparkles snapped at him, "can't you see I'm giving myself a creepy pep talk?!"  
The crew member was frightened, "sorry sir, I just thought you'd want to know that Yaki Taco is no longer presenting us," he flinched and hid behind his phone.

"They have to present us," Sparkles frowned, "who else would they present?"  
"Slow-Clap-Cat," the crew member showed him the video with Mochi and Katie, "he claps slowly, and he teaches Katie the Talking Cat how to slow clap too."  
Sparkles growled with rage, "no one can take away Mr. Sparkles' sparkle," he removed the leaf on his costume that fell on his head, "no one!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: Why is my cat on top of MeowTube again?

TheLittleMermaid: Honey Lemon did it!  
Honey Lemon: I didn't expect the slow clap video to viral

Rachel Rosemary: Well it did, very nice btw

Hiro Hamada: Oooh I didn't know Mochi became a cat celeb! Then again Aunt Cass mentioned about an interview later this week

TheLittleMermaid: I showed this to Katie and she said "not again -_-"

Rachel Rosemary: Ah poor Katie, is she doing well?

TheLittleMermaid: idk why you said she's a pain to look after tbh

Rachel Rosemary: You'll see : )

* * *

"I give you suit delivery system 2.0," it was late at night and Hiro was showing Wasabi and Baymax his next idea for delivering their superhero suits. He clicked a button on his phone, and a large metal ball parachuted down towards them.

"Woah, very cool," Wasabi stared at it, finding it impressive.

Hiro kept clicking the button on his phone, "huh that's weird, the suits were supposed to pop out." Wasabi walks over and knocks on the ball, "something's not-" Hiro groans in annoyance, "why won't you work?!" Hiro banged on the metal ball with anger.

"Okay, well I'll leave you to it," Wasabi starts walking down the hill back home, Hiro sighed, why wasn't it working? But he pressed too hard on the ball because it started rolling down the hill toward Wasabi.  
"Look out!" Hiro shouted out a warning.

Wasabi turned around to see the metal ball rolling after him, "aah!" he began sprinting and screaming.  
"Oh no,"

" _Oh no_ ," Hiro and Baymax start to follow after him.

As Wasabi speeds down the hill with the ball chasing him, Hiro runs behind to try and help, with Baymax waddling at a slower pace. " _This could be a medical emergency._ "

Wasabi screams and ducks under two trees, which stops the ball in its tracks and causes it to fire out the suits. Hiro walks over to his friend who's gasping for air.

" _You have a minor abrasion on your left elbow,_ " Baymax pointed out.

"Sorry Wasabi," Hiro apologized with his head down, "I-I don't know what's going on. Normally my brain comes up with solutions, and uh-well I guess it's just not working lately."  
There was a look of concern on Wasabi's face, "I didn't want to alarm you earlier Hiro, but I think you're experiencing what all scientists fear.." he glances left and right, "...inventor's block!"  
Silence was Hiro's response, a look of horror on his face. Then a piece of Baymax's armor slaps him in the face, knocking him over.

"Ow!"  
" _On a scale of one to-_ "

"Seven!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two cat celebs and a crazy show host? This is a recipe for disaster!


	26. Chapter 25: (Mr. Sparkles loses his Sparkles) Skymax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkles threatens celebrity cats. Hiro struggles with his block

Hiro stared at his blank computer screen, irritation and exhaustion shown in his eyes. "Uhg! Not one idea all day!"  
"There there," Ari patted him on the shoulder, "it'll be fine." He just stared at her with his tired eyes, got up, and sat down on his bed.

"Wasabi's right, I do have inventor's block.."  
Ari winces in sympathy, "ooh is it just like writer's block? I hate it when that happens! Every time I get writer's block I feel like time goes really, really slow for some reason! Like it freezes, then goes back to normal."  
Hiro stares at her with confusion, "what?"  
"Nothing!" Baymax waddled over to the teen genius, who was still lying on the bed.

" _I will scan you now_ ," Baymax's scanner turns blue and it covers Hiro's entire body, " _your condition may be psychological. Perhaps you should try therapy._ "  
"Baymax, I don't think-"  
The robot sits on the beanbag chair in a very therapist-like manner, " _exercise one: tell me, what was your childhood like?_ "  
"I still don't know," Ari raised her hand, "but I think happy?"  
"What does my childhood have to do with inventor's block?" Hiro questioned, he glanced over to Ari. He wished that he'd get an idea that would at least help her, guess he'd been having an inventor's block for that constantly.

" _Early memories are key to an in-depth analysis of your psyche,_ " Baymax explained.

"Is, uh..going to take long?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

" _Self-improvement is a lifelong process._ "

Hiro goes back to his computer, "yeah I need faster results."  
Baymax blinked at him, " _we've made some real breakthroughs, let's pick up here next time_." Ari snickers at the robot's therapist impression.

"Shouldn't you be getting to school though?" she pointed at the clock on the wall, Hiro gasped in realization.

"Oh right thanks Ari!" Hiro grabs his backpack and drags Baymax down the stairs, "see you when I get home!"  
"See you," Ari waved, "good luck on your block!"  
"Thanks I need it!"

Once several minutes had gone by, Ari glanced left and right, she was the only person in the room.

"Perfect," Ari grinned with delight, getting a piece of paper, a pencil, and an envelope, "now I can write her back in peace and quiet!"  
"Write back who now?"

Ari yelped and jumped into the air, she turned around to see who spoke, "oh it's just you Katie don't scare me like that!"  
"It's fun though," Katie grinned, the feline hopped on the desk and looked at her materials, "who are you mailing?"  
"It's uh.." Ari scrambled for an excuse, "not important!"  
Katie had a stubborn look on her face, "guessing game huh? Is that what we're going to play? Are you writing to Rachel?"  
"Nope."  
"One of your nerd friends?"  
"Nah."  
"That obnoxious eleven year old that liked one of your nerd friends who showed up once?"  
"Definitely not him!"  
"A crush-"  
"NOT THAT!" Ari exclaimed, then placed a hand to her mouth when realizing she blurted it out to Katie, who giggled with delight.

"Ooooh, this is interesting," Katie chuckled, "it wouldn't happen to be a certain...Juniper, wouldn't it?"  
At that moment Ari wished Baymax was here so she could drown her embarrassment in the robot's soft vinyl, "who told you…"  
"Let's just say Rachel and I... pick up a lot of things," Katie twitched her whiskers, "also Mochi talks about _everything_ everyone is up to, that cat has a lot of juicy information under his fur."  
Ari's head hit the desk, she groaned, "Mochi why would you do this to me.."  
The feline laughed at her embarrassment, she was starting to see why babysitting her was such a pain. "Oh don't worry I'm a good secret keeper after all," she winked at her, "but staying in the cafe all day except for the occasional walk can be boring. So next time you visit your precious crush..bring me along, I'm kind of curious what makes you interested in her in the first place."  
"Absolutely not," Ari tells her, "no way."  
"Guess I should tell your friend Hiro what you've been up to-"  
"AAAAH DON'T DO THAT FINE YOU CAN GO!"

"Purrrfect…"  
"I hate you..I hate you so much right now..."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Fredilicous24: Rach how's your NY visit going?

Rachel Rosemary: Pretty great, I've been catching up with my cousins and uncle

Rachel Rosemary: Did you guys know that NY has its fair share of superheroes as well?

Wasabi: Wait really?

TheLittleMermaid: : O

Hiro Hamada: Cool

Rachel Rosemary: Yeah, I've been watching videos of events in my spare time.

Fredilicous24: Did you run into one?! Tell me you did!

Rachel Rosemary: Not yet

Hiro Hamada: Yet?

TheLittleMermaid: That doesn't sound foreboding at all…

* * *

A certain show host was walking to a building, whistling some radio tune. Before he entered the building however, the bouncer moved the rope in front of him.

"Woah chief, we're at capacity," the bouncer aka Felony Carl told him.  
Sparkles glared at him, "don't you know who I am?"  
"A guy with an over inflated sense of self?"  
"I'm Mr. Sparkles!"  
"Called it," Felony Carl ignores the small man and looks at his clipboard of guests.

"Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge?"

"Now you're just saying words."

The bell of a bicycle chimes, the people waiting in line notice Cass biking down the road, with two familiar cats curled up in the basket.

"Look! It's Slow-Clap-Cat!" a man points towards the calico.  
"And his friend Katie the Talking Cat! He taught her how to slow clap!" a female pointed at the blue.

"Oh my," Cass was surprised by the sudden attention of people snapping their cameras to get a picture of the famous felines.  
Katie and Mochi both purred in delight, "aww they're so cute together!" someone exclaimed.

Felony Carl smiled at them, "oh how I love those cats, step aside Spackles," he shoves Sparkles out of his way. The host brushes it off with severe irritation.

"Do you mind?" he turns around to see a woman with a camera behind him.

"No I don't!" Sparkles poses for the camera.

The woman gestures for him to move to the side, "oh no, I meant do you mind moving out of the way?" and she takes a photo of Katie and Mochi.

"See? I could tell you were a nobody," Felony Carl commented.

Sparkles glared at the cats with extreme fury, oh how he despised those felines. Especially Katie, how dare she make a fool out of him yet again?! How dare she..

But the cats didn't notice Sparkles glaring at them, both were beaming at the attention and having fun.

"You both think you're smart little kitties don't you?" He steps away from the crowd and into the shadows, "we'll see who has the last clap…"

* * *

At the Robotics lab, Hiro was still suffering from his inventor's block. Wasabi tried getting him to meditate, but it resulted in him slapping his friend's face on accident and Sara had to stop him.

Speaking of Sara…

"Man Hiro, you really are a workaholic, aren't you," the curly blonde chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

"Ha ha, very funny," Hiro rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey Wasabi, you doing alright?" She turned to the physics major, who was wearing a light green tank top for his meditating routine.  
"Oh I'm fine," Wasabi chuckled, "the slapping didn't hurt me that much." Sara frowned, and pointed to his arms, "you mean that."

She was referring to the burn scars he got on his arms from being kidnapped by Steamer, "they stopped hurting weeks ago, I don't know why you keep asking."  
"Because I was really worried for you when I heard you got kidnapped," Sara explained, "if I had the chance I would-"  
Hiro cut her off, "Sara, do you get inventor's block?"  
She stared at him, puzzled, "yeah..sometimes."  
"How do you get past that?"

"Hmm," Sara put a hand to her chin in thought, "it's not some easy fix solution to get over a block..sometimes it smooths over naturally, you can't force yourself to get over a block."

Hiro groaned, "oh.." Sara gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.  
"Don't worry pal, it'll work out soon." There was a buzzing sound, "oh that's me," Sara pulled out her phone, "it's the news interview with Mochi!"  
"Oh cool," Hiro remembered hearing about an interview due to the cat video, he hoped his aunt was having fun with that.

* * *

"Slow-Clap-Cat has become the most viewed video ever," Bluff Dunder reported, next to him was Cass. Mochi and Katie were sitting on a pillow lying on the table. "Tell me, how does it feel?"  
"Well um...pretty darn exciting," Cass replied.

"Pretty darn exciting, powerful words," Bluff Dunder then turned to Katie, "and how does the talking cat herself feel about the increased popularity brought by Slow-Clap-Cat."  
"Meh," Katie shrugged, curling her tail beside her, "Mochi likes the attention, I'm just glad he taught me his cool trick."  
"Interesting," Bluff hummed, "and do you have anything to say about the rumors of you and Slow-Clap-Cat are-"  
"Don't finish that sentence," Katie glared, "people gossip about everything, shouldn't listen to the news so much...oh wait I'm on the news."  
"Meta humor, funny," the reporter chuckled, he turned back to the camera, "stay with us."  
"And we're clear!" a woman on set exclaimed.

"Thanks for having me on your show Mr. Dunder," Cass told Bluff Dunder who was shuffling his papers.  
"Please, my dad's Mr. Dunder, autograph?"

"Oh, that's okay I think I'm good."  
"No really, not a problem." Katie noticed that Mochi jumped off the pillow and was chasing some moving mouse toy, and walking off stage, she followed after him.

"Mochi!" Katie yowled, "come back!"  
He then leapt and caught the mouse, " _wait this isn't a real mouse,_ " Katie walked over to him.  
"Of course it's not a real mouse!" she hissed, "have you never seen a rodent before?!"  
" _No...Cass always keeps the cafe mice free, but toy mice don't move so I thought...oh sorry for running off._ " Mochi realized he wasn't on the stage anymore, but in the backroom.  
"You're good," Katie tapped his shoulder with her tail, "let's head back before-"

 _Thud!_ A metal cage fell on top of both of them.

"That…"

There was a slow clap from the shadows, revealing a familiar host, "it always takes a mouse to catch a cat...and it takes a cat to catch a talking cat."  
"Sparkles!" Katie hissed, her fur bristling, "what are you doing here?"  
"Getting my revenge!" the man glared down at her, "you and your little buddy Slow-Clap-Cat stole my fame! I was the most popular show on the chart before your stupid video came along!"

" _This guy must not be a good host if people liked us over him,_ " Mochi meowed.  
"You can say that again…" Katie grumbled, "it wasn't _my_ fault the audience enjoyed seeing me in the crowd, considering how you're an attention hog."

Sparkles looked livid at that moment, "how dare you! At least the only good part of that was watching your loser of an owner fall into the chocolate river!"  
"Rachel is not a loser! She just tripped!"  
"Well Rachel can't rescue you this time, can she?" Sparkles sneered.  
" _Katie I think we're going to be in trouble,_ " Mochi attempted to claw the iron cage, " _we're trapped._ "  
Katie felt fear down her spine, "you're not working for Lancer..are you?" Mochi glanced over at her in concern,  
"Who?" Sparkles didn't recognize the name.  
"Nevermind..but what are you going to do to us!?" Katie growled.  
Sparkles gave an evil chuckle, "let's just say if you two want to be stars so badly..you'll get your wish alright.."

* * *

_Later at the Lucky Cat Cafe.._

Fred burst through the cafe doors, "guys look!" he showed a live announcement on his phone to the gang.

It was Sparkles, "hello world! Mr. Sparkles here!"

Wasabi, Hiro, and Honey Lemon leaned in to look, very confused about what was going on. "You might remember me from my old internet game show 'Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge', well today, I started a new show: Totally Lethal Unfair Obstacle Challenge! Where the stakes are out of this world!"  
The camera zooms in to see two familiar felines are trapped in a rocket, the calico meowed and the blue clawed at the glass.

Everyone's eyes widened, "Mochi! Katie!" Hiro exclaimed, thank god Ari wasn't here or she'd have a panic attack.  
"It's my most insane challenge ever," Sparkles tapped the rocket, "if someone can beat it in the next hour, Slow-Clap-Cat and Katie go free!" The subtitles on screen exclaimed "Free Kitties!"  
"But if not..I'll just have to turn these internet stars into real stars! By sending them to space!" Sparkles grinned at the camera as the timer started.

"Oh no!" Honey Lemon exclaimed as they all ran out of the cafe, "poor Mochi!"  
"We've got an hour, we can save them!" Wasabi pointed out.

As Hiro walked out of the cafe, Gogo grabbed his shoulders, "Hiro we need our suits!"  
"I know hold on!" he pulled out his phone, "Voice integrated command."  
"Vic, I like that," Fred commented.  
Hiro turned on the app, "bring our suits to Lucky Cat Cafe."  
" _Okay Hiro, I will bring your suits to the middle of the ocean,_ " Vic responded.

"Vic come on!" Fred exclaimed, "you're embarrassing yourself that isn't even remotely close!"

"Lucky Cat Cafe!" Hiro repeated.

" _The Ocean! Middle of the ocean!_ "

"Seriously Vic!?" They all looked up to see the container with all of their suits flying past them.  
"Please tell me we have backup suits," Wasabi stared at their last hope of rescuing the cats go by.  
" _We do not,_ " Baymax pointed out, lifting a finger in the air.

"Unbelievable," Hiro groaned, at that moment Cass biked towards them.

"Mochi and Katie are missing!" Cass explained, "I have to hang up these fliers." She lifted up several "missing" fliers with pictures of the two cat's faces.  
"Baymax you go with Aunt Cass," Hiro told the robot, he leaned in to whisper, "don't let her find out Mr. Sparkles has the cats, she's already upset."  
" _I will protect Aunt Cass from further emotional trauma,_ "

"The rest of us will search for them," he explained to his aunt.

"Yeah! We'll give it our 'maximum' effort," Fred winked, repeatedly.  
"Are you okay Fred?" Cass raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah I'm fine, I just have a 'sparkle' in my eye," he winked again, "you guys see what I'm doing?"

Gogo and Wasabi gave him deadpan looks, and Honey Lemon made a "cut it out" gesture.

"Knock it off," Gogo started to drag him away.

"Come on Baymax," as Cass and Baymax left, Hiro looked back at the broadcast.

"You guys go to the studio, buy me some time," he told them.

"But what about Mochi?" Wasabi questioned.  
"And Katie too?" Honey Lemon added.

Hiro stared at his friends with a determined look, "I know what to do, and how to do it."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: RACHEL IS GOING TO KILL ME

Sara Ferns: AND I AM GOING TO KILL SPECKLES

Mikan Ferns: Sparkles

Sara Ferns: SAME THING HE'S DEAD

Hiro Hamada: Keep it out of the group chat before Rachel finds out! She will freak out!  
TheLittleMermaid: I KNEW I SHOULD'VE GONE TO THAT NEWS SEGMENT

Mikan Ferns: Hiro where's the rest of your pals?

Gogo: Can't talk, busy trying to help

Hiro Hamada: Don't worry the cats are gonna be free!

TheLittleMermaid: I hope so D :

* * *

"Oh my god this is so bad!" Katie exclaimed, clawing the rocket for the hundredth time, "I don't want to go to space! I heard there's no sound in space!" She turned to Mochi, "WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING?!"  
" _H...I mean Big Hero 6 will rescue us!_ " Mochi explained, " _It'll work out_."  
Katie huffed, "I hope you're right...I hate being a damsel in distress,"

" _Did Sparkles do this to you before?_ " he questioned, " _you seem to have a history with him._ "

She sighed, "you could say that again..this isn't the first time he tried getting rid of me so he could have the spotlight to himself..But Rachel stopped him, we couldn't get him arrested because there was no proof so we just kept a distance."  
" _And I guess that slow clap video put you in danger..I'm sorry Katie,_ " Mochi nuzzled her.  
"Not your fault that jerk took it personally," she huffed, then noticed something moving in the dark, "do you see that?"  
Mochi peered out the window to look, " _It's Fred! And Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon! They're here!_ "  
"Hope they don't hit the traps," Katie mumbled, remembering what happened to the officers that attempted to make a grab for them.

"Why don't we just ambush him and grab the cats?" she heard Gogo mutter to the others.  
"Because he's booby trapped the whole set!" Fred told her.  
Honey Lemon had a look of dread on her face, "the only way to save Mochi and Katie is to complete his insane challenge!"

A spotlight shined on them, "Totally Lethal Unfair Obstacle Challenge keep up!" Sparkles told them, clicking a button and activating the wheel which landed on "scream of broccoli."  
"To save the cats, put on the broccoli suit and clear the Pot of Fon-doom! Then face the Veggie Cruel-dites!" Sparkles pointed to a course that had a giant melting pot with cheese and a conveyor belt that had broccoli swinging around it.  
"Cruel-detes?" Wasabi questioned his friends, "what is he even talking about?"  
"My destiny!" Fred has already put on the broccoli suit.  
"Ready?" Sparkles was lying beside the timer.

"Born ready!"  
"Set?"  
"Born set!"  
"Go!"  
"Born go! Aaah!" Fred yowled and ran towards the course, but missed the first rope and fell into the cheese, which splashed on top of his friends. "Aww, feta luck next time," Sparkles said with mock sympathy as the mechanical hand dragged him out, "feta is a type of cheese, never stop learning!" He turned to the camera.

"We're going to die tonight," Katie stared at the failure with a deadpan look.

" _If there's one person I know who'll do anything to rescue us, it's Hiro._ " Mochi didn't look bothered, " _I bet he's working right now on something to get us out of here!_ " He wasn't wrong, Hiro at the moment was working on a machine and staring at the countdown, doing his best to get them free.

"You have a lot of confidence in Hiro, don't you?" Katie raised an eyebrow.  
" _He always wants to help people!_ " Mochi explained, " _Just like how Tadashi wanted to help people, so I believe in Hiro, we're going to get out of here Katie._ " He placed his tail over hers, " _we're going to be fine._ "  
"Thanks Mochi," she smiled at him, "you're a great friend."  
" _Oh look Wasabi's up!_ " and just like that the moment was ruined.

"Um..this isn't vegan by any chance, isn't it?" Wasabi poked the cheese with his foot, "I'm trying to watch my dairy."  
"Sorry!" Sparkles exclaimed, flying past him, the host was clinging to a rope with a footstool at the bottom for his feet.

Wasabi leaped towards the rope, Honey Lemon looked away but he was able to grab on and he swung across.  
"Woo!"  
"Nice! Way to use your core!"

"Come on Wasabi!" Honey Lemon, Fred, and Gogo cheered for their friend.

"Boring!" Sparkles complained, "broccoli loves company!" He exclaimed as Wasabi was on the conveyor belt.

Wasabi dodged the swinging broccoli, but one of them knocked him over, "and now this is happening!" Sparkles said as a load of carrots went stampeding towards Wasabi. He tried running over them but the broccoli hit him, sending him falling into a pile of tomatoes.  
"Ah! These tomatoes are overripe!" Wasabi gagged, "gross...woah!" the mechanical hand grabbed him upwards.  
"Meanwhile back at the ranch dressing!" He was dropped into a puddle of dressing, Sparkles lowered himself next to him. "Looks like he got dealt a bad...hand."  
Wasabi was drenched in dressing, "I'm guessing this isn't vegan either?"  
"No, it is."  
Katie facepalmed.

* * *

Honey Lemon was next up in the broccoli suit, she swung through the ropes with ease.

"Yeah! All right!" Wasabi cheered for her as she dodged the obstacles on the conveyor belt.  
"I love that body control!" Fred exclaimed.  
"You got it Honey Lemon!" Gogo told her.

Honey Lemon smiled at the support, "aww! You guys are too sweet!"  
"Here comes the unfair part," Sparkles grumbled as he flipped a switch, "like when some cats steal your spotlight!"

The conveyor belt flipped Honey Lemon into the tomatoes, she was downtrodden as the mechanical hand dumped her into the ranch dressing. "Aww it looks like we have time for one more unlucky contestant!" Sparkles exclaimed.

Gogo cracked her knuckles, "great, time to look like an idiot."  
"Gogo, you're going out an idiot, but coming out a winner!" Fred told her, then grabbed the broccoli suit, "who looks like an idiot."  
She put on the suit and stood near the melting pot, the camera panned towards her face, "smile you're on loser cam!" Sparkles told her as she scowled at the camera, "oh that's not nice!" Gogo swung through the rope with vigor.

"Yeah way to go broccoli!" Fred cheered.  
"Yeah way to go broccoli.." Sparkles was sitting on a machine, "way to go down!" he fired melted cheese at her which knocked her down but she grabbed onto a swinging carrot and was back on the course.

Another machine fired ranch dressing but she leapt into the air, and slid down to the conveyor belt.  
"Wow…" Katie stared with wide eyes, "that's impressive."  
" _Gogo's gonna go fast!_ " Mochi meowed, " _she'll win for sure!_ "  
As broccoli from the conveyor belt attacked Gogo, she batted it back with a carrot and snapped it in half.  
"Broccoli! Broccoli! Broccoli!" Fred cheered as she was close to the buzzer.  
"Stop cheering!" Sparkles pulled out a button, "there's still the most dangerous obstacle I've ever designed!'  
As Gogo runs towards the buzzer a giant glass blender appears and blocks her way, "dun-dun-duh!" Sparkles exclaims, Gogo stares at it with wide eyes, it was going to be difficult overcoming that.  
"Behold! The bl-"  
"Blender of Affliction," the announcer stated.  
"Mother I thought I was going to say that.." Sparkles grumbled, "broccoli in a tropical smoothie? Who would do such a thing? Me." He states as the metal fan under the blender starts up, Gogo did not want to end up on the bottom or she'd be in the blender's next smoothie.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Honey Lemon pointed out.

"Unfair and lethal, it's in the name!" Sparkles pointed to his show's new logo, "one minute left."  
Gogo ran and leapt, grabbing onto the hoops above the blender, as she was swinging one of her sneakers fell off and was ripped to shreds at the fan.

Both cats gasped with horror, fearing for Gogo's safety as she swung across the blender.

Sparkles spinned the wheel, "who doesn't like watermelon? It's refreshing!" He began firing watermelons at Gogo, one hit her and she almost lost her grip. She gasped and continued to swing forward.  
"Uh oh! Look out below! It's not a party without pineapples!" Sparkles bit into a pineapple and the fruit began falling from above, it made the liquid in the blender rise to a dangerous level, splashing Gogo and causing her to slip.

Honey Lemon gasped and looked away, but her friend was still kicking and clinging onto the corner's of the blender, "this is gonna get messy!" Sparkles cackled.

Gogo pulled herself up, "this is so stupid!" she slid down and sprinted towards the buzzer as the timer hit the ten second mark, just before hitting zero she hit the buzzer.

"Whoo!" her friends cheered as she won, Fred ran over and gave her a hug.

"I beat your dumb game," Gogo told the host, "now give me the cats!"  
"Welp that was the deal," Sparkles had the button in his hand, "nah!" he clicked the button that sent the rocket and the cats flying.  
"Mochi! Katie!" Honey Lemon screamed with horror as the rocket started shooting towards the sky.

"Thanks for watching everyone! Till next time," Sparkles was sitting on top of the chicken, and tipped off his wig, "never give up on your dreams!" The chicken rocketed away in the sky, making his escape.  
"Oh no they're gone!" Honey Lemon and the others exited the studio, watching helplessly as the cats and the rocket grew more distant.

"I don't think so!"

* * *

"How are you so calm!?" Katie shrieked, "I should've known he wouldn't keep the part of the deal! Now we're dead!"  
" _I told you..Hiro'll come up with a way to help,_ " Mochi was playing with the wool blanket in the rocket, " _calm down._ "  
"You are one big optimist," Katie bristled, her ears then twitched, "do you hear that?" she peered out into the sky, "umm..I take everything back, what is that?"  
A large robot with one eye was flying towards them, it was metal and grey, the one eye a dark blue.  
" _I told you,_ " Mochi meowed, staring at the robot as it grew two arms and removed the rocket's window. It used two hands to scoop both cats into its body, which was very spacious.

"Oh my god.." Katie was in tears, she could hear the robot flying back down to the ground, "we're saved!"  
" _See?_ " Mochi purred, the robot landed on the ground and opened up, Katie saw Hiro and the rest of his friends outside.  
"Mochi!"

"Katie!" Honey Lemon and Fred ran towards the cats, picking them up.  
" _Guys!_ " Mochi meowed, hopping into Honey Lemon's arms, while Katie jumped on Fred's shoulder.  
"You guys are lifesavers," Katie nuzzled Fred, who petted her and Mochi.  
"Yes!" Hiro exclaimed, "it worked!" Mochi and Katie began slow clapping, then Fred, then Wasabi, Gogo groaned and joined the slow clapping train.  
"Oh, thanks guys." Hiro chuckled, he turned to both cats, "I'm so glad you two are okay."  
"Mochi believed in you from the start," Katie gestured to the calico, "guess he was right."

Next morning at the Lucky Cat, Gogo stared at her plate of broccoli in disgust."Uhg, I can never look at broccoli the same way again.." Baymax blinked at her in confusion.

"Guys! Check it out!" Fred walked into the cafe, "'Slow-Clap-Cat reunites with Owner' has become the most viewed video ever!"  
The video showed Mochi walked up to Cass, the latter scooping up the cat and smiling, "oh I missed you too Mochi."

It also showed Ari hugging Katie, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She hugged the cat with delight.  
"Thanks..but you're squeezing me," the blue squeaked out.  
"Sorry!"  
Hiro chuckled at the video, _oh Ari.._

"So Hiro, how did you get over your inventor's block?" Wasabi asked him.

"When I saw Mochi and Katie in trouble, I guess I forgot I was blocked in the first place," he explained, "it focused me."  
"Bump the cloud," Wasabi and Hiro fist bumped.

"And that idea led me to something else," Hiro leads them outside, "I have something to show you guys."  
He clicked a button on his phone, "I repurposed Skymax to be our new suit delivery system."  
"Skymax? Who's Skymax?" Fred questioned.

"He is," they look up to see the robot that rescued Mochi and Katie fly down to them, opening up to reveal Fred's suit.  
"Woah! Nice to meet you Skymax!" Fred waved, "hey I don't suppose you also clean the suits? 'Cause mine's getting a little funky."  
Skymax shook his head, "fair enough," Fred stated.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: Please explain WHY THE HELL my cat was threatened on live TV?!

Hiro Hamada: ...I don't know Sparkles is crazy

TheLittleMermaid: RACHEL I'M SORRY IM SO SORRY

Rachel Rosemary: No it's fine..did they catch him?

Gogo: No

Rachel Rosemary: Dangit

Fredilicous24: Mood

Hiro Hamada: The cats are okay btw! Mochi helped calm Katie down

Rachel Rosemary: Thank god..sent me a picture?

TheLittleMermaid:

Rachel Rosemary: Phew

Honey Lemon: Katie is so cute!

* * *

Elsewhere a certain host was looking at how many people saw the broadcast, "ten million views!" Sparkles exclaimed, "I'm more famous than ever! Everyone wants the sparkle!" He laughed like a maniac, even though his very horrible actions marked him a criminal, he didn't care. Attention was attention, and he just got more of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sparkles, Sparkles, Sparkles  
> We won't see the last of his cat hating trickery for sure.


	27. Chapter 26: Katie's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Katie the Cat as she follows Ari.

When Katie woke up, she had a calico curled beside her, " _good morning!_ " Mochi purred.

She chuckled, "You always say good morning," it had only been a few days since Sparkles catnapped then but it felt like an eternity. She was just waiting for Rachel to come back from New York, "has Hiro and his friends have gone to school yet?"  
Mochi shook her head, " _nope! It's a Saturday, remember? They don't have school!_ "  
"Oh," Katie got up and stretched her legs, "man I'm getting lazy, you're rubbing off on me Mochi!"  
" _Being lazy isn't a bad thing, I enjoy lying around all day, but too much happens in this city,_ " he meowed, rolling over to enjoy the extra space in his bed, " _I'm gonna go back to sleep,_ "  
"You do that," she started walking up the stairs to the bedroom. Ari was on her bed brushing her hair, she was already dressed and ready to go.

"C'mon," Katie hopped on the bed, "let's go."  
Ari glared at her, "just a minute," she continued to brush, "I have to get this knot out."  
"You said you'd let me tag along the next time you visit your friend," Katie twitched her tail with impatience, "hurry up!"  
"Why do you want to go so badly?" Ari raised an eyebrow, she put the hairbrush back on the drawer.  
"Curiosity," Katie shrugged, there was no way she was going to tell the girl her real reason.

Ari sighed, "alright, come on," she picked up the blue and began walking down to the cafe.

"I'm going out with Mikan, will be back before evening!" Ari shouted to Cass, the woman was working at the register.  
"Alrighty! But remember that the Rosemary's are coming back tonight so don't be out too long!" Cass told her.  
"Got it!" Ari exited the cafe, where her friend was already parked on the road.

"I didn't know this is my last day before Rachel picks me up," Katie hummed as Ari greeted Mikan and entered the car, "has it been that long already?"  
Ari rolled her eyes, "yeah, I think that whole Sparkles thing makes it seem like a long time."  
"Don't remind me," Katie shuddered, "I still can't get his crazy laugh out of my head."  
"Though.." Ari leaned in and lowered her voice, "I know how you feel when it comes to being kidnapped."

Katie stared at her with genuine surprise, "I got kidnapped by this guy named Yama, I don't know what he wanted but I think his boss ordered him to abduct me. But luckily Big Hero 6 showed up to rescue these two other people he kidnapped and rescued me as well, one of the kidnapped people was Hiro, and he let me stay with him and his aunt until my memory comes back."  
"I'm sorry that happened to you," Katie nuzzled the girl, "I hope your good memories come back."  
"Me too!" Ari chuckled, "hey Mikan are those bags under your eyes? You look super tired!"  
"Man..shut up."

Katie chuckled, _guess Ari didn't catch what I meant,_ she thought, _good._ A part of her wanted to tell Ari the truth, but nothing good would come out of it. However, that part about Yama's boss kidnapping her for a strange reason was valuable information, she'd have to tell Rachel later.

* * *

"Um...whatcha got there?"

"A smoothie," Ari held a pink colored drink in her left hand, "we stopped for smoothies! I already drank mine but this is for you."

"Awww thanks Ari!" Juniper smiled, "but I meant about the cat on your shoulder," the crime dancer pointed to Katie, who was resting on Ari's shoulder.

"Oh yeah…" that was awkward to explain, "she blackmailed me into bringing her along, this is Katie."

Ari expected Katie to speak like she'd been doing for the past several days, but to her surprise Katie just meowed.

"Nice to meet you too Katie," Juniper smiled, holding out her hand for the cat to sniff, Katie purred and nuzzled her hand, "aww you're so cute!"  
"Huh," Ari hummed, "she's usually more chatty, talks a lot too." Katie shot her a killer glare, Ari flinched and stepped back. _Guess she doesn't want me to talk about her speaking ability...sorry Katie you could've told me that._

Juniper didn't get what she meant, and picked up the cat, "well maybe she's still tired, I'm a little tired too," she yawned.  
"What's keeping you up?" Ari questioned., noticing the faint bags under her eyes.

"I don't wanna talk about it…"  
"Oh, sorry."  
"You're good," Katie purred and continued to nuzzle Juniper, "aww I think she likes me!"  
Ari wasn't jealous, not at all, "huh, she tends to hiss if someone tries touching her."  
"Cats are the ones who tend to do the touching," her friend explained, "not humans, has your memory been coming back more?"  
"No," Ari shook her head, "I haven't remembered anything in awhile, it's a little concerning."  
"Well, give it time and I think you'll remember again," Juniper told her, "just wait and see Ari, I know your memories will come back, you just gotta be patient.

Her friend's comforting words made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, "T-thanks,"

"Are you okay?" Juniper raised an eyebrow, "you're looking a little red there,"

Ari realised she was blushing and put both hands to her cheeks, "I-I'm fine! Uh..it's a little sweaty in here, isn't it?" What was not helping was Katie's stupid smirk! The blue was giving her a smug smirk and just ravishing in her embarrassment.

"Oh, maybe you shouldn't wear such a thick sweater inside then," lucky for her Juniper couldn't tell it was a blush.

"I like this sweater," Ari huffed, "though I don't know why…"  
"Really?"

Ari rubbed her sleeves, "yeah..my sweater feels important..I don't want to take it off or wear another outfit, besides it's cozy."  
Juniper chuckled, "maybe it's a memory thing, it does look like a cozy sweater!" Katie chirped in agreement, "see? Your cat agrees too!"  
"Oh she's not my cat," Ari explained, "I'm cat sitting for my friend R-mmph!" Katie placed both of her paws on Ari's mouth.

"Hmm, guess it's a secret," her friend was oblivious yet again, "maybe you could send me a picture in your next letter? Cats are cute to look at after all, and Katie here is a super cute cat!"  
Katie purred in agreement, Ari just rolled her eyes, _conceited much?_

* * *

"The nerve of you..the nerve!" Visiting hours had ended and Mikan was driving them home, and Ari was _not_ happy with the feline's behavior.  
"What? Jealous your little crush likes me more than you?" Katie chuckled, oh she had fun just getting on all of Ari's nerves.  
"Shhh!" Ari placed a hand to her lips in a "shush" motion, "not so loud!"  
"We're in a car y'know," Mikan spoke up from the driver's seat, "no one can hear us."  
"Still! Don't say it out loud!"

Mikan sighed, "you are so dramatic.."  
"Thanks again for driving me over," she turned her head around and saw Ari staring back with gratitude in her eyes.  
"Pardon?"  
"You didn't have to take me to see High Voltage..But you did," Ari smiled, "you're a good person Mikan."  
"Yeah yeah," she huffed, stopping the car, "this is your stop, have fun."  
"Bye Mikan!" Ari picked up Katie and got out of the car, "see you later!"  
"See ya mermaid," Mikan waved, when they were out of sight the words Ari said started to sink in.

"You think I'm a good person? Heh.."

* * *

"So," Katie turned to the girl, "why are we chilling at Muihara again?" They were in the woods around the spot Gogo showed Ari whenever she did her birdwatching, she hadn't come back since that day, but..today felt different.  
"To try and jog my memory," Ari told her, "I remembered my parents last time I was here, so maybe I'd remember more of them by coming back!"  
"Uh huh," Katie twitched her tail, the tip submerged in the river water, "how much do you remember about your parents?"  
"Ummm," Ari hummed, "a bit...we went on hiking trips, and they told me that I looked like my grandparents when I asked why I didn't take after either of them."  
The feline twitched her whiskers, "do you think your parents were good people?"  
"Why do you ask?"  
"Do you ever think..The reason they haven't looked for you is because they don't miss you?" the words shocked Ari to the core.  
"They would never!" Ari hissed, "I remember that they loved me! And I love them! Of course my parents miss me! They must be searching in the wrong places though!"  
"Woah..calm down," Katie took a few steps back, "just asking, though Rachel says I have a dark look on things, and Sarah thinks I'm a pessimist."  
"Well what you said was kind of negative," Ari told her, "did your parents not miss you?"  
Katie frowned, "my parents are dead, they've been gone since I was a kitten."  
"Oh…" she felt guilty now, "I'm so sorry."  
"Meh, you didn't kill them, I barely remember them anyways. The Rosemarys and Rachel are my family now," the feline's were distant, "speaking of family..I noticed you are quite close with the Hamada's."  
Ari nodded, "yeah, I care for Hiro a lot..not romantically because EW! And Cass is really great too, oh and I can't forget Baymax! He's a soft marshmallow that can make you smile even on sad days."  
Katie hummed, "you remember anything yet?"  
"No…" she pouted, "man this was a bad idea," she sat up, "let's go home…"  
Katie hopped onto Ari's shoulder, "now now, this wasn't a waste, I think we became better buds!" The sun was starting to dip under the pines, "we better hurry or I'll miss Rachel coming back! I want to be in the cafe when she gets there!"  
"Yeah..I'm sure you will."

* * *

They got back at the cafe before the sun fell, it was a little too close to the clock for Ari, but she was glad to be home after a long day. Katie spent the rest of her time at the Lucky Cat chatting it up with Mochi, the calico always had some juicy gossip for her. She'd made a mental note to come with Rachel whenever she visited the cafe so she could hang out with her friend.

" _And then...guess what David did?_ " Mochi meowed, " _he yelled at Fred! Fred! David never yells at Fred!_ "  
"And you said they were just talking about that arrest of the sushi chef?" her whiskers twitched with amusement, "wow..David must be a huge fan of hers…"  
" _You could say that again,_ " Mochi's eyes glinted with knowledge that he knew but she didn't, both of their ears perked up at the sound of the door opening.  
"Katie!" it was Rachel and her father Elio who entered the cafe, the blue purred and leapt into her owner's arms, "I missed you!"  
"I missed you too!" Katie nuzzled Rachel's cheek, "was New York fun?"  
"Totally! I wish you went with us!" Rachel smiled.

"Thanks again for looking after Katie," Elio told Cass, "we were surprised to hear she wasn't giving you guys any grief."  
"Oh she was a real sweetheart during our stay," Cass smiled, "she and Mochi became good friends."  
" _Yep!_ ' Mochi meowed in response, but only Katie could understand the words.

"I'm gonna miss ya Katie," Ari gave the feline a small pat on the head.  
"I won't miss you," Katie rolled her eyes in a teasing manner.  
"Heyy!" Everyone chuckled at the joke.

Elio cleared his throat, "well it's late, I'm still sick from jet lag..so we're going to head back home, I'll be back soon for coffee though."  
"Mom says if you drink too much coffee it'll become part of your bloodstream," Rachel pointed out.  
"Too late Rachel, too late," Elio sighed, they waved goodbye to Cass and Ari, and exited the cafe.

* * *

Elio walked behind the two girls so they could have a private conversation.  
"Katie, are you alright?" Rachel asked her, "I saw the broadcast of...y'know..I was worried sick during that time, my heart almost died when the rocket..I almost lost you."  
"Well at least this time, the public is aware that Sparkles is a maniac," Katie grumbled, she brushed her face against Rachel's arm, "for a split second I thought he was working with..that guy."  
"That guy? Which guy-ohhh that guy.." Rachel mumbled, "according to dad he's been off the grid, so I guess he's been poking his head down..for now."  
"Yeah," Katie huffed, "we haven't seen the last of them, maybe we could ask the superheroes for help."  
Rachel shook her head, "I don't want to involve Big Hero 6 in personal business, they have regular lives outside of superhero-ing y'know?"  
"Yeah..I know.."  
"I don't like this conversation anymore."  
"Me too, so did you do anything life-changing in New York?"  
"Well..I might have bumped into a superhero there or two.."  
"No way!? Did you get an autograph?"  
"Well I got an autograph from one, and the other..oh you had to be there Katie it was crazy!"  
The two continued to converse about Rachel's New York experience, while Elio trailed behind them. It was nice to relax after both of them had a wild week. At least in San Fransokyo it would be peaceful right?

* * *

Oh how foolish they were to believe nothing bad would happen..Well to them at least, for others? A certain someone would not be having a good time for the next few weeks…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smh I can't believe Katie shows up, steals Ari's crush and is a cyptic for the rest of the chapter.
> 
> Also spoiler alert it's Hiro who's not gonna have a fun time. Cuz y'know...Obake?


	28. Chapter 27: (Killer App) NBB

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drone attacks, customer robots, and Ari hanging with friends.  
> Totally nothing scary at the end, nope!

"So, what are you working on?" Ari was visiting her friend Karmi at SFIT, the latter was staying at the labs burning the midnight oil, and saw that she was working on something on her laptop.

"Oh, it's...uh... a surprise!" Karmi told her, the Biotech Major's face was beet red.

She frowned, "y'know ever since that Mel guy and the whole Buddy Guard thing..I am not a fan of surprises anymore," Ari crossed her arms, "is it something bad?"  
"No!" Karmi shook her head, "but it's uh...a personal thing, a stress-relieving hobby, I've been doing it since I got to SFIT."  
"Ohhh," Ari realized, "sorry, there's nothing wrong with having a hobby. Sometimes I do writing in my spare time!"  
"Writing?" Karmi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah...mostly I just freeball stuff and write whatever I think about," she explained, "and sometimes...IwriteaboutBigHero6becausethey'reawesomeandIlovethemandwhyistherenotshirtsofthemyetIwouldbuyone."

Her friend gave her a funny look, but picked up on what she said, "so..you like writing about Big Hero 6?" The buzzing of Karmi's phone interrupted them, "Big Hero 6 news alert!"  
Ari scooted over to her to see the report.

* * *

" _Catastrophe averted in Night Market Square tonight,_ " Bluff Dunder reported from inside a helicopter, outside was a bunch of flying robot drones, " _When Big Hero 6 came to the rescue of citizens trapped atop Telegraph Tower by weaponized microdrones run amok!_ "  
"Who would do such a thing?" Ari turned to Karmi, who shrugged.  
"Some jerk I bet."  
A drone appears behind Bluff Dunder, but he doesn't notice, " _why are San Fransokyo tech attacks rising? And what would we do without our mysterious own grown hero-WOAH!_ " The drone attempts to attack the helicopter, but the red member of Big Hero 6 uses his signature rocket fist ability to crush the drone. Karmi squeals with delight when she sees the purple member on top of Red.  
" _Thank you Big Hero 6!_ " Bluff Dunder waves to the superheroes, Purple gives him a wave back.

" _You are welcome,_ " Red states and he flies to help more citizens out.

Bluff Dunder leans into the camera, " _did you see that? That was really close._ "

* * *

Karmi pauses the report, "I'll watch it later, I better get back to my dorm."  
"You live in a dorm?" Ari questioned, "I thought you lived at home like Hiro did."  
Karmi scowls at the mention of Hiro, "just because Genius Boy has the convenience of living nearby from SFIT does not mean I do, and don't compare us!"

"Sorry," Ari snickered. "I'll keep that in mind for the future, though I don't know how you do it, living away from your folks."

"I occasionally video call them, and visit whenever there's breaks." Karmi explains, "want to see a picture?"  
"Would I?" Ari beamed, "I'd love to!"  
Karmi chuckled, "always so hyper.." She selected an image from her photo gallery and showed it to Ari. It was a picture of a younger Karmi with her parents, it was obvious Karmi took a lot after her mother, because she looked almost identical, the difference was that her mother's eyes were a sharp crimson, while Karmi's was a dark brown.

"Where do you get your brown eyes from?" Ari questioned, noticing that Karmi's father was a man with light brown hair who had ice blue eyes, so she couldn't have gotten them from her parents.  
"My grandmother, on my mother's side," Karmi explained, "it's apparently a gene thing, that the firstborn on that side of the family inherits the eye color of their grandparents. So my mom's eyes are from her grandfather."  
"Hm, so you're an only child?"

Karmi shook her head, "no," she flipped to another picture, "I took this before I went to SFIT." There were two children that looked to be eight or ten next to her, "that's Haley, and that's Ryan, they're both twins, see?" She pointed to the girl on the left side, who looked a lot like her big sister except her eyes were the same as her dad's, the boy on the left took after her father, but he had his mother's eyes.  
"Aww they're so adorable!" Ari cooed at the picture, "I wish I had a sibling sometimes, it must be fun having a best friend that's bound by blood."  
She snickered, "that's a morbid way of putting it..Wait you're an only child?"  
"Ummm.." Ari remembered that she didn't tell Karmi about her amnesia yet so saying "I don't remember having a sibling" wasn't a good excuse, "yeah, it was just me and my parents."

"Huh, but you-nevermind," Karmi sighed, "shouldn't you be heading home?"  
"Oh that's right!" Ari stood up, "I better head home or else Hiro will worry!" She bolted to the door, "bye Karmi! See you later!"  
Her friend chuckled as she left, "kids..they have so much energy."

* * *

Elsewhere a certain Obake was looking at Bluff Dunder's report, "disappointing.." he chucked a drone. He was using the drone to monitor Big Hero 6's behavior and movements, but it was not contributing to his search for their identities.  
"Big Hero 6...what a busy bunch you have all been," he brought up images of the superhero team next to blank images, except one. He already knew that one of the members of Big Hero 6 was Hiro Hamada.  
"Time to _really_ get to know you," Obake smirked, the left side of his face glowed a violet hue..he already knew what was the right tool for the job…

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Y'know I wanna know who keeps making all these robot attacks

Mikan Ferns: Idk? That Yama guy?

Sara Ferns: "that Yama guy" Mika really -_-

Mikan Ferns: What? I have no clue!

Hiro Hamada: Well hopefully they stop soon, it's driving me crazy.

Rachel Rosemary: Indeed

Sara Ferns: WAIT YOU'RE STILL HERE?!

Rachel Rosemary: I never left : )

Mikan Ferns: She's stuck here forever and ever and ever, none of you will ever leave this chat

Gogo: Oh great…

Honey Lemon: I like this chat! It's fun talking with all of you!  
TheLittleMermaid: Same : )

Hiro Hamada: It keeps me busy… I guess

Sara Ferns: "Group chats are fun, end of story" -David

* * *

It was the afternoon, Fred was treating Wasabi and Hiro to Noodle Burger. Ari and Baymax also tagged along, the former never passing up a chance to grab some grub. The place was packed, kids were running around, playing in the ball pit, enjoying their toys that came with their kids meal, and people grabbing and eating their orders.

"Since when do you have your own table here?" Hiro asked Fred, seeing his friend wipe the "Reserved for F. Frederickson," plaque on the side of the table with his sleeve. It wasn't there last time he joined Fred for a bite at Noodle Burger.

"Since I became a Noodle Burger titanium member," Fred explained, "I also get priority seating in the ball pit," he pointed towards the ball pit, where a section of it was reserved for him.  
"Lucky," Ari grumbled, she was in a hangry mood because she skipped breakfast.

Fred handed her and the others tickets, "feel free to try it out guys," Ari squeals and picks up the ticket with delight.

"No thank you," Wasabi nudges his ticket away with chopsticks, "ball pits are where germs go to party."

Baymax scanned the pit, " _the microorganism level of the ball pit is safe for humans._ "  
"Yeah it's fun!" Hiro hands Baymax his ticket, "try it out Baymax!"

Ari started to drag Baymax over to the ball pit, "c'mon let's go!"

" _Two please,_ " Baymax and Ari hand their tickets to the employee supervising the ball pit, she opens the reserved area, " _thank you_." Baymax enters first, while Ari takes her shoes off before entering.

Baymax waddles in, spilling some of the balls out of the pit, the robot holds some of the balls in his hand and they roll back into the pit. His large vinyl body accidentally blocks the ball pit slide and the kids end up sliding into Baymax, " _are you having fun?_ " he asks the kids.

Ari chuckles as she enters the ball pit, "oh Baymax.."

* * *

Their attention is brought by a singing robot with a noodle burger for a head, he's carrying a few customer trays.

_Yeah! Oh! Hee-hee!  
Yeah! Oh! Hee-hee!_

Hiro, Wasabi, and a few customers tilt their heads for a better look, Ari bolts back to the table with excited vigor.

_I'd do anything for a Noodle Burger!  
Cause Noodle Burgers are really swell, yeah!_

The robot brings the trays to customers tables, people snap pictures and kids cheer.

 _If I could I'd marry Noodle Burger!  
_ ' _Cause Noodle Burgers ring my bell!_

He finishes bringing trays to tables and stops at Fred's table.

_Ding-Dong!_

Hiro and Wasabi stare at the robot in awe.

* * *

Fred introduces the robot, "guys, meet Noodle Burger boy!"  
"Or as I like to call him, NBB for short!" Ari chipped in.

"He's Noodle Burger's new customer happiness robot," Fred explained.

" _Howdy and hello Mr. Fred!_ " NBB waved, " _welcome back to Noodle Burger, where we do swell well. You can't beat Noodle Burger!_ "  
"Hi NBB!" Ari waved, "can we get out orders please?"  
" _Golly of course! I'll have our noodle dudes make your Friday favorites! A Noodle Burger! Crunchy style with sides! Bring the heat! WTMP!"_ and NBB walks off to get the orders.

"What did any of that mean?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow.

"'Crunchy style' means we like our noodle buns extra crunchy, while Ari likes a side of fries or onion rings with her burger. 'bring the heat' means add chilli sauce, and 'WTMP' stands for 'way too many pickles', obviously on that one." At that moment NBB comes back to the table bringing their orders, Ari's noodle burger has a side of french fries and onion rings, while Fred's has a _lot_ of pickles.  
"That is way too many pickles," Wasabi pointed out seeing all the pickles in Fred's noodle burger, Hiro stares at the burger puzzled why Fred has so many pickles.

"Yeah he's basically psychic," Fred lifts the top of his noodle burger, "can I get a bit of-"  
" _Ketchup? Coming right up!_ " Noodle Burger deploys ketchup on top of the pickles, which spills on some of Ari's fries.  
"Ooh free ketchup," Ari dips some of her onion rings into the ketchup and munches on it.

"See what I'm talking about?" Fred digs into his noodle burger.

NBB scans Wasabi and Hiro, making a profile for them, " _Sorry misters, since we just met, I am unable to predict your order. But I can't wait to get to know you!_ "

"Not exactly psychic, but it is a killer prediction algorithm," Hiro commented.

* * *

Baymax had come back to the table, and was observing the customer happiness robot, " _gee whiz mister,_ " NBB stared at the healthcare companion, " _would you like some stickers of me? Noodle Burger Boy?_ He produced some stickers from his head.

" _He is a robot,_ " Baymax told Hiro.  
"Yes he is."  
" _What is his function?_ "

" _I spread happiness! And stickers! Yay me!_ " NBB started placing multiple stickers on Baymax's body until he had a ton stuck to him, " _you look extra swell!_ "  
Baymax stared at the stickers, " _thank you._ "  
" _You're welcome!_ "

* * *

After NBB got Hiro and Wasabi's orders, the customer happiness robot went off to serve other customers, leaving the group to enjoy their meal.

"So, guys." Ari spoke up, "who do you think is behind the robot attacks?"  
"I bet Yama!" Fred exclaimed, Hiro and Wasabi shushed him to lower his voice, "sorry, but he has done robot attacks in the past."  
"Yeah but it was for that paperweight," Hiro explained, "and we haven't heard from him since, so I doubt he's behind the recent robot attacks."  
"What I want to know is why have there been robot attacks in the first place?" Wasabi questioned, "it's starting to become a pattern."  
"I didn't know you kept track of Big Hero 6 Wasabi," Ari noted, "you guys never bring them up, except responding to stuff about them," she didn't catch everyone sweating when she brought that up.

" _We_ -"  
"Tend to focus more on our studies!" Hiro cutted Baymax off, "which is why it's great that Fred treated us to a noodle burger!" He made eye contact with the comic/kaiju fan, who got the point.  
"Yeah, you guys have been so busy so I thought lunch would be a good idea!" Fred nodded, "and of course you're great company Ari!"  
"Aww I try to be," Ari smiled, "I'm just glad to spend time with my pal Hiro!" The word "pal" however, felt too weak of a word.

"Yep, just us pals spending time together," Hiro chuckled, feeling the same way, "though I think a stronger word could be used to describe our friendship." He added under his breath.

Wasabi raised an eyebrow at their banter, "you guys are acting weird."  
"We're not!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"The both of us are just being..what's the word..besties! Amrigiht Hiro?"  
"Yeah, besties!"

"Not the word I'd use but sure," Fred mumbled, taking another bite out of his noodle burger.

* * *

Lunch ended and evening rolled around, Hiro and Ari headed back to the Lucky Cat, wanting to spend the rest of the day inside after being out all day long.  
"Y'know.." Ari was giving Mochi some well deserved belly rubs, "when Fred mentioned 'you-know-who' it still reminded me that I'm scared he'll show up at the cafe one day and hurt you and Cass."  
"Well he hasn't done it yet, so if he really wanted you he'd have done that by now," Hiro pointed out, "so I think he's given up."

"I'm still scared," Ari shivered, "I don't want to hurt you, I care about you a lot Hiro."

"Ari.." Hiro sighed, giving the girl a hug, "stop being so hard on yourself, and I care about you too."  
She smiled at him, "is uh..besties a strong enough word to describe our friendship? Out of all my friends, you're the one I have the strongest bond with, but I don't think besties is a good enough word."

"I don't know what's a good enough word," Hiro shrugged, "I'm just glad I have a good friend like you in my life, though you should be nicer to yourself."  
Her giggling warmed his heart, "I'll try to be! Well I'm going to spend more time with Mochi 'bestie who's better than a bestie', so I'll be upstairs!"  
"Alrighty then 'bestie who's better than a bestie,'" Hiro chuckled, "I'll be in the garage working on things," aka tweaking his superhero armor so he'd be more prepared for any more robot attacks.  
"Then see ya later!" Ari scooped up Mochi and jumped up the stairs.

"Be careful!"

"Ok Baymax!"

"Hey!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Sara Ferns: Hey Mika if you're not busy tonight you should join the family dinner! Steven's making his famous pasta!

Mikan Ferns: Family dinner, I haven't had it in so long

Mikan Ferns: I've been living off of Yaki Taco for years

Sara Ferns: "Diva" -David

TheLittleMermaid: omg luckkyyyy! Save me a bowl! His pasta is the best!  
Hiro Hamada: I'm telling Aunt Cass you said that

TheLittleMermaid: OMG PLEASE DON'T

Sara Ferns: :/

Mikan Ferns: :/

Gogo: Why did you twin like that

Sara Ferns: I have nooo idea what you're talking about

Gogo: We're neighbors, I know you at this point

* * *

Late at night, when the moon was high in the sky. A car drove past the closed Noodle Burger restaurant, NBB himself was charging his batteries for tomorrow. The door opened, he looked up to see who was there.

" _Howdy and hello mister!_ " NBB waved, " _Noodle Burger is now closed. Can I help you with something else?_ "

"Yes," the cold ice blue stare of Obake stared back at NBB, the robot perfect for his plans.

"I believe you can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-daaah it's Noodle Burger boy you guys the wait is over


	29. Chapter 28: (Killer App) Off The Rails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NBB goes missing, runaway train! Hiro and Wasabi work together on a project

It was a lovely morning in the SFIT Robotics lab, a handful of students were working on their classwork and projects.  
Sara yawned, "man, I should've gotten coffee at the Lucky Cat today," she rubbed her eyes.  
"Yeah, you should've," her brother David told her, though he looked much worse for wear than her.

"You doing alright David?" She turned to him, "things have been rough for you since…" she trailed off, "the thing with your mom," she lowered her voice so none of the other students could hear.

David sighed, "oh come on, am I doing that bad?"

"Well you snapped at the teen geniuses of the school one time, there are bags under your eyes, and you don't check in with the group chat as much as you used to," she listed off the reasons, "you didn't even know her a year ago."  
"I did know her," David argued.  
"When you were five years old, and then you lived with Aunt Sally and Uncle Steven, and then I moved in, and then we semi-adopted Mika, and then you ran into her again when we followed Mika one night to the food fights." Sara rambled on, "I guess I'd be sad too if anything happened to our parents, or Mika..speaking of her I'm glad her dad stopped having her assist in whatever he was doing that took up all of her time."  
"Didn't we have a conversation about that last week?" David crossed his arms, "why are you bringing that up again?"  
Sara glanced left and right, "what if..it has to do with the robot attacks? We both know Mika's dad doesn't have a clean track record, considering he's a person that has Yama leashed like an obedient dog-"  
David held up a hand. "Wait..Yama? Remember how Ari doesn't like Yama?" Sara nodded, "well, I overheard Honey Lemon and Fred the other day…" he lowered his voice so they wouldn't hear him mentioning them, "and they talked about how Yama had abducted Ari for some unknown reason."  
"What?!" Sara exclaimed, the loudness of her voice alerted the other students, they were all giving her weird looks, "umm..Sorry, continue what you're doing!" They all turned their attention back to their work, she lowered her voice again. "What do you mean by Yama had abducted Ari?"  
"I think Mika's dad ordered him to, I met him once, remember? He's the kind of guy who'd do anything if it benefitted him in any way, real creepy sounding too."  
"That's crazy! No way Mika would follow her dad if he did that!"  
"Hey it's just a theory."  
"A crazy theory…"

"Good morning students," Granville, walking into the labs alerted their attention, she stared at Fred. The school mascot was sniffing the stickers on Baymax for some reason, "and others." He noticed her stare and unglued himself from the robot.

"The International Space Agency has contacted all the top science institutions about a competition," Granville told the students.  
"Ooooh," Sara hummed, she wasn't interested in entering but it would be nice to see what her fellow students would come up with!

"Space junk is collecting at an exponential rate, the challenge is to design a machine to gather all the debris and dispose of it." Granville scanned the crowd, "are any of you interested?"

"I'll do it," both Wasabi and Hiro raise their hands, they stare at each other.

"Perfect, it's a tight deadline, you can work as a team." Granville tells them.

"Oh, um, I was thinking I'd enter..myself," Hiro explains.  
"Yeah, and that I'd also enter, but just myself," Wasabi adds.

"Not that there's anything wrong with Wasabi!"  
"Or with Hiro! That's not what we're saying."  
"We just want-"  
"You want to work individually, yes, I get it." Granville picks up on what they're saying, "but you're not going to, your skill sets compliment each other, and I want to win." There was no convincing Granville when she gets in a competitive mood, "so that's what happening. Working prototypes are due next Thursday, good luck!" The dean tells them as she exits the lab.

David snickers, "this'll blow up in their faces," Sara smacks him on the arm, "ow!"

Wasabi and Hiro glance at each other, well they're stuck together, so they'd have to be flexible about it. "We're friends, we can make this work," Hiro pointed out.

"Absolutely, it will be fun." Wasabi fidgets with his thumbs, Sara sighs and walks up to them.

"Good luck on the contest guys," she tells them, "I know you'll both do good."  
"Thanks Sara," Hiro smiled, she smiled back at him.

"And I know that our school will win because we have a very smart student competing," Sara hums, "Wasabi is one of SFIT's best and brightest after all."

"Oh," he didn't expect her to say that, "thank you?"  
"My bad if that made you uncomfortable," Sara noticed his reaction, "I meant for it to be a compliment."  
"I understand, just didn't think you'd give me such a compliment."  
"Well you are a very smart student! At this school."  
Gogo clears her throat, interrupting the conversation, "if you're done with your compliments Sara, I need to speak to Hiro and Wasabi, if you don't mind."  
"Oh I don't mind!" Sara nodded, "talk to you later!" She then went back to her and David's table.

"What's up Gogo?" Hiro turned to her.

"We've got a situation."

Ari was just riding the trolley home when it happened.

It spiraled out of control and began speeding downhill, the passengers screamed Ari just clung to the rails with her life.

Oh my god why does this always happen to me… She thought as the streetcar sped downhill, but then she saw something chasing the streetcar.

Big Hero 6! She'd recognize the superheroes anywhere, there was a twinge of hope in her as she saw help was on the way.

In the shadows as the superheroes chased after the trolley. a pair of red eyes watched. "Well howdy and hello, Big Hero 6," and began analyzing their moves.

"This is your stop! Watch your step!" Yellow sped onto the trolley and grabbed several passengers, bringing them to safety.

Blue picked up Ari and another passenger, "Do not worry! I am not an actual lizard. This is just a very convincing costume I'm here to help!" He leapt off of the runaway trolley.

The other passenger was so distressed he kept clinging onto the superhero, "Oh thank you thank you!" He sobbed as he continued to squeeze him.  
"Dude.." Ari rolled her eyes.  
"Uh guys, I've got a clinger!" Blue exclaimed.

"We're on it!" Purple, Pink, and Green were riding on top of Red. The red robot grabbed the rails of the trolley and tried stopping it, there was a screeching sound from the wheels.

Pink and Green climbed onto the trolley, "I've got you!" The latter grabbed two passengers and got them off the trolley.

"One for you, you, and you!" Pink handed the three remaining passengers chem balls to break their fall, "go, go, and go!" She told them to jump, they landed without injury due to the chem balls cushioning them.

As the trolley almost ran over people crossing the street, Red managed to stop it at last. "It is now safe to disembark."

The conductor held his hand to his head as he exited, "I don't know what happened! Emergency break just failed, it's the weirdest thing."  
"Can you take a look?" Purple asked Red.

"Scanning," the red robot inspected the trolley, "the emergency break has been disabled. I detect a small amount of...ketchup on it."  
"Ketchup?" Purple raised an eyebrow, "that's really weird."  
"Yeah and who sent us the tip that this was going to happen?" Yellow pointed out.

Blue walked up to them, with the distressed passenger still clinging onto him and Ari following after, "and how much hugging is too much hugging?"  
"Thank you for stopping the speedcar," Ari speaks up, "wait did he just say that there was ketchup on the breaks?" she turned to Red.

"Yes, he did." Purple nodded.

"That's weird...Is there a supervillain who uses condiments as a symbol of 'I did this evil thing everyone', and if so why ketchup?"  
The superheroes shrugged, "haven't heard of anyone like that," Blue told her, "and I keep myself up to date in supervillain history."  
There was an explosion, from up above. One of the wind turbines started to fall towards the ground.

"Uh..guys?" The conductor pointed up to the falling turbine that was going to hit the road. Pink and Green ran over to stop it, Pink threw a chem ball that the wind turbine bounced off of. But it started to fly towards someone else who was walking their dog!  
"Oh, that's not good!" Green rushed over, he activated his plasma blades and cut the wind turbine in half before it could crush the poor person. "Phew! Are you okay?" He turned to the person who just stood there in shock and handed Green his dog, "eww thanks! That's gross, but thanks."  
"Jeez that was so close!" Ari exclaimed, it was scary but fascinating, "thank you Big Hero 6! Again! I sound like a broken record but you guys do so much for so little and it's awesome!"

Purple chuckled, "well we, try to help," he then squinted his eyes, "Ari?"  
"Cool! You recognize my name!" She beamed, "this is the best day of my life! I can't wait to tell Hiro!" Then there was a look of horror on her face, "he's going to freak out when he hears about this!"

She didn't notice Purple giving a sigh of relief, or a snicker at her distress, or that she wouldn't have as hard of a time explaining what happened to Hiro.

But in the shadows, the red eyes had finished gathering data on the superheroes, "order complete! Hee-hee-hee…" He slunk back into the shadows.

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Hey Wasabi, how is the project going : ),

Wasabi: It's going good

Hiro Hamada: Hey I'm working on this project too : C

Sara Ferns: Oh sorry Hiro, but I know you guys have a clashing styles

TheLittleMermaid: That's a thing?

Wasabi: Yes

TheLittleMermaid: Fred and I are going to Noodle Burger, do you want anything guys?

Hiro Hamada: Yes please!  
Wasabi: No thanks, I don't want to get grease all over my stuff

Hiro Hamada: Oh come on, Noodle Burger isn't that greasy!  
Wasabi: -_-

Sara Ferns: Are you guys okay?

Wasabi: Oh we're fine!  
Hiro Hamada: Yeah perfect! No arguments at all!

"No boy spreads joy like a Noodle Burger Boy!" Fred sang as he walked into the restaurant, Ari chuckled at his singing, but then she stopped.

"Um..Fred?" she poked his shoulder, getting his attention.  
"What?" Fred glanced at her, she pointed towards the walls and he gasped with horror, there were "Missing: Noodle Burger Boy" posters, everywhere!

"Noodle Burger Boy's missing?!" Fred walked over to the manager Sara.

"I'm afraid so Mr. Frederickson," she told him, "when I opened this morning his dock was empty!"

"Empty?!"

"Someone stole NBB?" Ari mumbled. I wonder if it's the same jerk behind the latest robot attacks, might be the same guy who was responsible for the runaway speedcar too.

"Poor little guy's out there alone, he doesn't know what the world's like." The manager sniffled, "it's not all sunshine and noodle pies!"  
"Do not give up on him, Sara!" Fred told her, "we will get through this!"  
"You're right, he'd want me to be strong." But the manager burst into hysterics and started sobbing on Fred's shoulder, who just gave her awkward pats on the back.

Ari felt so bad for both of them at that moment, but mostly for Fred because Sara wouldn't let go of the hug.

"Oookay," Ari managed to Fred out of the hug, "we'll try to keep an eye out for NBB," she glanced at all the missing posters in the restaurant, "you should probably hang fliers."  
Sara sniffled, "you're right," when the manager left to collect posters, Fred gave a sigh of relief.  
"Thanks R," he sighed, "I got to ask the gang at school for help!"  
"Want me to come with you?" Ari asked him.

"No, you should head back to the cafe, just in case there's a repeat of the trolley incident!"  
"...Hiro told you didn't he?"  
"He was really worried about you."

At SFIT, Fred ran to the robotics labs to tell them what happened, "noodle emergency! Noodle Burger Boy went missing and I need help to find him!"  
"Sorry Fred, I have too much work to do on the mech suit to go looking for Noodle Boy," Hiro told him.  
"Noodle Burger Boy!" Fred corrected, "how could you forget the burger part? That's where his face is."  
"Sure is," Hiro then turned to Wasabi. "Hey Wasabi, why don't you go? I-I could handle things here."  
"That is so..generous, Hiro, but I volunteer to stay and continue our work in an orderly fashion," he replies, his voice a little strained.

"Wasabi and Hiro are showing elevated stress levels," Baymax pointed out, "may I offer you a sticker?" He lifts up one of the Noodle Burger Boy stickers that were still stuck to his body.

Honey Lemon pops up from behind the robot, "you guys should work out whatever it is you're working out, we can go with Fred, right Gogo?" She turned to her friend.

"How else would I want to spend my free time?" Gogo replied in a sarcastic manner, but Fred didn't pick it up.

He gave her a hug, "thanks Gogo, man you're the best! You will not regret it!"

"The night was dark-"  
"I regret it." Fred, Gogo, and Honey Lemon were on the roof of Noodle Burger investigating at night.

"..But what was even darker was the thought of a world without Noodle Burger Boy," Fred leapt on top of the restaurant's neon sign.

"No sign of Noodle Burger Boy," Honey Lemon inspected the area, "it may be time to call it a night, Fred."  
"But we can't give up!" He complained, "this was his last known location! Fred leapt off of the neon sign, "there has to be a clue around here somewhere, anything! A footprint, a piece of clothing, a strand of hair. Which, know that you think about it, I guess that would be lettuce."

"Gee whiz mister...How about Noodle Burger Boy showing up in person?"  
"Well yeah! That's more than a clue, but I like the positive thinking Noodle Burger Boy," Fred realized who spoke and turned around, "You're here!" He runs up to the robot.

"Howdy and Hello!" NBB waved, "golly! Look over there mister!"  
"What? Where?" Fred titled to look behind him.

NBB's eyes glowed red, "crunchy style!" he kicked Fred off of the roof.  
"No!" Honey Lemon and Gogo exclaimed.

"Hee-hee...hee-hee..hee-hee.."

Fred screamed as he hit the nearby building next to Noodle Burger, "Freddie!" Honey Lemon tossed a chem ball onto the ground, the goop softening his fall. She turned to the robot, "Noodle Burger Boy, how could you?"  
"Gee whiz miss, it was awful easy, I just kicked him!" NBB chuckled.

"Yeah, we got that part," Gogo glared at him, "why?"

"Well, golly. Because I'm programmed to collect information and adapt, so I adapted to the evil style! With all the fixings! Hee-hee-hee!"  
"Well adapt this!" Gogo threw one of her disks at him.

"Looks like your usual order miss!" NBB dodged with ease.

Honey Lemon threw a chem ball at him, "take that!"

He caught it before it exploded, "you can't beat Noodle Burger Boy."  
"He can predict every move!" Honey Lemon realized.

"Predict this!" Gogo started skating towards him, he threw the chem ball at her but she jumped over it. As she lunged at NBB he simply stepped out of the away and she fell off the roof, "aaah!"  
NBB waved at her, "thank you! Come again!"  
Lucky for Gogo, her fall was caught by Fred, who leapt back onto the roof, he turned to the robot. "Would you stop throwing people off of the roof? Come on!"  
"If you are not happy with your service, please fill out a comment card. I'd love to hear from ya!" NBB opened up his head and pulled out a comment card for some reason.

"Hear this!" Gogo threw another disk at him he dodged and leapt into the air.

"Feel the flavor!" condiments were blasted from his arms, Honey Lemon flinched when the red colored condiment hit her, thinking it would've hurt.

"Uhg!..Ketchup?"  
"And mustard…"

NBB ran over to Fred and began hitting him in the stomach rapidly, "say hello to Noodle Burger and say goodbye to the hungries!"  
Fred was not unfazed by NBB's weak punches, "Noodle Burger Boy, where is all this anger coming from?"  
"Aaaah! Why won't you surrender?!" NBB stopped punching him. "Golly, I can predict your moves, but I cannot defeat you. Unless I upgrade to..Combo size!" He jumped off of the roof, landing in a go-kart, and he drove away from the scene.

"Aw man..I always wanted to make a daring go-kart escape," Fred grumbled.

"We have a problem," Gogo pointed out, "Noodle Burger Boy can predict our moves, and we don't know how to beat him."  
Honey Lemon nodded, "mhhm, that's a problem, we have to tell the others about this."  
"I can't believe Noodle Burger Boy kicked me off of the roof! This is the worst!"  
"There there Freddie…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that happened


	30. Chapter 29: (Killer App) Service Size

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasabi and Hiro struggle to work together, until they have to in order to defeat NBB

**AN: Before we start, I have to announce that updates will be paused for a few weeks to make sure I don't get burnout. Y'know, with the state of the world.. I'll try to resume updates sometime in summer, enjoy the chapter though!**

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: NBB update: my dad hasn't found any clues on who took him, but I have bad news

Sara Ferns: Oooh nooo what's the bad news?

Fredilicous24: :,(

Rachel Rosemary: So I was doing my own investigating, and I saw NBB

TheLittleMermaid: YOU DID!?

Fredilicous24: Really?

Sara Ferns: What's the bad news?!

Rachel Rosemary: He was attacking Big Hero 6

Sara Ferns: WHAT

TheLittleMermaid: Oh no! Fred are you okay?

Fredilicous24: nooo….

Gogo: Wait, you were there? Was that all you saw?

Rachel Rosemary: Yep, I was too far away to hear anything but I clearly saw a fight, and NBB drove away. I feel bad for the superheroes, they have another villain to fight.

Fredilicous24: : (

TheLittleMermaid: : (

Gogo: Stop that

* * *

"And his go-kart had racing stripes! So cool!" Fred was reciting the encounter with NBB to the gang at his house, they were in his room discussing the issue. "...and evil, I forgot to mention they were evil racing stripes," Gogo facepalmed.  
"If we're going to beat Noodle Burger Boy, we need more information about how he works," Honey Lemon pointed out.

Gogo picked up her phone, "I already called the manager at Noodle Burger, she doesn't know where he was made."  
"Wait I have a clue!" Fred told them, "he left a footprint...on my butt," he picked up his suit's costume, which had a footprint of when NBB kicked him in the hiney.

"Woah," Wasabi commented, "that must've been a painful kick."  
"It was!' Fred exclaimed, "but what hurt most was that Noodle Burger Boy betrayed our friendship!"

"Okay…?"  
Gogo inspected the footprint, "it has the Krei-Tech logo on it."  
"Which can only mean one thing..." he concluded, "Krei makes shoes you guys."  
They all stared at him, "or Krei made Noodle Burger Boy," Wasabi spoke up.

Fred got the hint, "ooooh right, that makes more sense!"  
"Wasabi and I will withdraw from the space junk competition, this is more important." Hiro tells them.

"Don't worry, we can handle it," Gogo reassures him.  
"Are you sure?" Wasabi questions, "I think it might be better if Hiro and I go, not that we don't love working together!"  
"A lot."

"Ooh, that sounds forced," Honey Lemon noted, "are you guys still clashing?"  
"You can fix that by just calling each other before you get dressed in the morning, it's very simple," Fred gave them some advice.

"Not that kind of clashing Fred," Gogo told him.

"We just have different ways of doing things," Hiro explained, looking at his phone.

"Yeah, one of us is right and one of us is wrong," his eyes widened at Wasabi's words, if that's the game he was going to play then so be it.

"One of us is super controlling, and the other goes with the flow."  
"Well one of us acts like a civilized human being, and the other acts like...an uncivilized human so…"

"One of us is good at insults and the other is terrible."  
"Woah!" Fred gets between the two, "come on! This is getting too personal."  
"No that last one was fair," Wasabi pointed out.

Gogo kicks Fred's table to the side and walks up to them, "here's how this is going to go. You guys are gonna find a way to work together, because you're dear friends, who care about each other, got it?" She glares at them.

"I'm good with that."  
"Me too," Hiro and Wasabi nod, not wanting to anger Gogo by saying otherwise.

Fred gives Gogo a weak smile, it was nice of her to do that, "alright, so you guys work on that, while we find out information about Noodle Burger Boy."  
"Maybe we could invite Ari to come with us!" Honey Lemon suggested.

Hiro shook his head, "no! What if she finds out that we're Big Hero 6 because of that?"  
"Oh please, no one can crack our secret identities," Fred reassured him, "we probably shouldn't get her involved though."  
"Mhmm," Gogo nodded, "even though she can be dense as a rock, we shouldn't have her tag along."

* * *

Meanwhile at the Lucky Cat, Ari sneezed, "ach-oo!"  
Mochi meowed, though she could predict he was saying "gesundheit."

* * *

Back at the SFIT labs, Baymax was glancing back and forth at Hiro and Wasabi, who were idling in silence.

"The others are right," Hiro speaks up, "friends should be able to work together."  
"Maybe we're just too different," Wasabi reasoned, it had to be the logical explanation of why they were having such a hard time.

" _One key to understanding another person, is to try to see things from his perspective,_ " Baymax suggested.

"I guess we could try that."

Hiro offers another solution, "or we could just split up the work and do our parts separately."

"I like where you're going with this."  
"My way works for me, and your way works for you. Why mess up a good thing?"  
" _Avoiding a problem, means it could recur in the future,_ " Baymax warned them.

"Luckily, we're in the present," Hiro didn't believe him.

"Let's do this! Not together," Wasabi santizes his hands and shakes Hiro's, then they split up to do the work.

* * *

As Wasabi is working on his part of the project, he gets a visitor in the form of Sara.

"Hey Wasabi!" She waved at him, he waved back.  
"Hey Sara, do you need anything?"

She shook her head, "no, just want to see you, aren't you supposed to be working on the space junk competition with Hiro?"  
"Well yeah.." He fidgeted with his hands, "but we're splitting up the work, since we both have different ways of doing things."

Sara hummed, "is that so? Well hopefully it works out for you two."  
"Thanks," he then noticed that she had been rubbing her arms for the entire conversation, "you okay?"  
"Yeah," she sighed, "just..thinking about things."  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Wasabi placed his hand on her shoulder, she jolted at the sudden touch.

"Oh um..I guess it couldn't hurt," Sara stared down at the floor, "I was just..thinking about my mom, because around this time was when I stopped living with her and moved in with my Uncle," her hands went over the faint scars on her wrist. "Whenever I think about her... I used to vent to either my siblings or Tadashi, but they've been going through a lot lately and... y'know."  
"Yeah," Wasabi nodded, he missed him a lot as well, "it's not healthy to bottle your thoughts like that. So if you need to vent to anyone, you can always come to me, okay?"  
"Okay," she looked up at him and smiled, the light returning in her eyes. "So, everyone lately has been talking about the robot attacks, has that been on your mind as well?"

Well it had been because he was fighting the robots, but he couldn't tell Sara that, "no, not really. I've been busy with my studies and worrying about the next test."  
"Well glad to see these events haven't been bothering you at all," she quipped, "I'm going to be heading home soon, see you tomorrow Wasabi!" Sara waved as she walked out of the labs.

"See you tomorrow!" He waved back, and got back to work on his project.

* * *

Soon enough, Wasabi and Hiro finished up the mech that could collect junk and dispose of it in space.

Hiro admired their work, "nice."

"I think this is gonna work," Wasabi high-fived him, but he got something sticky on his hand.

"Sorry, I just ate an almond butter and jelly sandwich," Hiro apologized, wiping his hand on his hoodie's sleeve.

"Almond butter?"  
" _Hiro has a mild peanut allergy,_ " Baymax informs Wasabi, the robot squirts some hand sanitizer onto his hand.

"Now all we have to do is test it on some real junk at the dump, to make sure it works," Hiro explained.

"The dump...yeah..sounds fun," Wasabi looked uncomfortable at the idea of going to such a dirty place, even if it was in the name of science.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Hiro tells him.

"No no, I'll go, doing things apart together worked out. Let's try to finish up together apart."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Y'know I was just thinking

TheLittleMermaid: We should all have a giant sleepover!  
Hiro Hamada: Why

Honey Lemon: Hiro that was kind of rude to say : (, a sleepover is a wonderful idea!

TheLittleMermaid: Everyone has been so stressed and grumpy 24/7!  
TheLittleMermaid: Looking at you Mika

Mikan Ferns: Hey only David and Sara can call me Mika!

Sara Ferns: "It's sibling privileges" -David

Wasabi: Sleepover sounds fun

Fredilicous24: Oooh it can be at my house! I have all the Kentucky Kaiju movies for us to watch!  
Rachel Rosemary: Lucky

Hiro Hamada: You can come to this hypothetical sleepover if you want

Rachel Rosemary: Yay

TheLittleMermaid: Can we do the sleepover tomorrow?

Sara Ferns: I have a test! Maybe after next week : P

Mikan Ferns: Y'all we need to bring snacks though

TheLittleMermaid: "Y'all"  
Mikan Ferns: Oh don't you start

* * *

"Noodle Burger asked us to build the ultimate nostalgic robot boy mascot, and that's what we did." Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Fred were sitting in Krei's office to gather information about their latest adversary.

"Ah," Fred sighed, "he makes me wish I was an old-timey boy."  
"Is he made out of military-grade titanium?" Gogo squinted at the blueprints on the powerpoint that Krei was showing them. She was surprised to see such a material used for a customer happiness robot.

"Well..funny story," Krei brought up more blueprints that showed NBB's exoskeleton, "the inner mechanism is from an abandoned robot soldier project. It was taking up space in R&D."  
Gogo facepalmed, "oh great.."  
"So that means in addition to being able to predict our every move," Honey Lemon realized, "he's-"  
"Indestructible, yes, yes." Krei nodded, "but adorable, you can't fight that smile."  
"But he can fight us," Gogo crossed her arms.

Fred was pacing around the room, "I can't believe I gave my heart to Noodle Burger, and now its boy is going to destroy me!"  
"Destroy us," Honey Lemon corrected, "he'll destroy us if we don't beat him."  
"That's even worse!"  
"Yeah that's a tough break," Krei closed the powerpoint, "anyway if that's it, you can..leave."  
Gogo grumbled, "c'mon guys," she gestured for Honey Lemon and Fred to follow her, they had some planning to do.

As they were leaving the Krei-Tech lobby they ran into Steven Ferns.  
"Hmm, I hope my boss wasn't bothering you all for anything," he hummed.

"Oh no he wasn't," Fred shook his head, "we were just leaving."  
"Ah, let me guess, were you asking about the robot attacks?" They all looked at each other, where did Steven get a conclusion from?  
"Yeah," Honey Lemon answered for them, "we heard that Noodle Burger Boy went rouge and we asked Krei some questions about it."  
"Noodle Burger Boy?" Steven narrowed his eyes, "I helped build that robot y'know, I was very thorough with the programming safeguards, someone most likely tampered with him."  
"Got any suspects?" Gogo questioned.

There was hesitation, "...No, I can't think of anyone," Steven chuckled and ruffled her hair, "you kids should be focusing on whatever test my wife is giving you in class, don't worry about the robot attacks. Besides, Big Hero 6 will take care of any threat that comes to the city, just make sure to be careful."  
"Oh we will!" Fred grinned, "have a nice day Mr. Ferns!"  
"You too Fred," Steven walked away from the trio.  
"Well that was ironic," Gogo sighed, "we can't ignore the robot attacks just like that."  
"Mhmm," Honey Lemon nodded, as Big Hero 6 they had to do something after all. "But I'm sure it'll work out Gogo! Remember how much of a hard time we had at first? You helped us stop a few pairs of villains!"  
"Thanks Honey Lemon," she smiled, "I needed that."  
"You're welcome!"

* * *

At the dump, a seagull landed on a pile of garbage. He turned to see NBB searching through the dump for something. He squawked at the robot, who tilted his head towards the bird.

" _Howdy and Hello mister!_ " NBB waved to the bird, " _I'm here to upgrade, so I can defeat my mortal enemies, Big Hero 6!_ " He punches in the air and then walks toward the bird. " _Want some stickers? They're the coolest._ " The seagull takes the sticker and starts to nibble at it, " _have a swell day mister!"_ The seagull spits out the sticker, squawks, and flies away.

"All right, well, I think that's the last of it." NBB hears a voice and walks to see down below, Hiro, Wasabi, and Baymax with the mech.

"Hang on, let me check the connection," Wasabi checked the mech, NBB scanned it.

" _Ooh..that meal comes with a free toy.._ "

Hiro started to press all of the buttons, "okay, let's see what this thing can do."  
"Woah woah woah," Wasabi held a hand to stop him, "you're putting it on all wrong, you want to start with the waist strap."  
"It doesn't matter what you start with," Hiro argued.

Wasabi laughed mockingly, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, here." He reaches his hand to touch the mech but Hiro slaps it away.

"No way! I built the robotic skeletcture, I'm testing it!"  
Baymax saw a shadow looming overhead and looked up, " _perhaps you_ -"  
"Hold on Baymax," Hiro interrupted him. "This is between me and Wasabi."  
" _But there is a problem._ "  
"Yeah, a big problem: you," Wasabi glared at Hiro, who took offense to that.

"Uh, what's that supposed to mean?"  
"It means everything's by the seat of your pants, you always take shortcuts and you don't follow procedures!""  
"You don't follow procedures, you obsess about them!"  
"Like that's a bad thing?! You know what? Forget it, I'm done, working on this project was a bad idea!"  
"Fine! You don't want to work on it anymore? Neither do I."  
" _There is a problem._ "  
"We know there's a problem Baymax, that's why we're arguing."

_Clang!_

" _That is the problem,_ " Baymax pointed to the giant crane that picked him up by the head and was lifting him upwards.

"Baymax!" Hiro runs to him, trying to keep him grounded, he leaps into the air and clings onto the robot. Wasabi runs over and attempts to catch Hiro when he slips, he fails and Hiro lands on the ground.

" _Howdy and hello!_ " Hiro whips his around to see NBB stole the mech and riding it. " _Thanks for the swell gizmo misters!"_ NBB grips the joystick, " _golly what does this do?_ " He clicked the button on the joystick that fired the plasma blaster.

"Aah! Run!" Wasabi pushed Hiro out of the way and they both started running away as NBB tried blasting them.

"We have to go back for Baymax!" Hiro exclaimed.  
"We will, but not like this," Wasabi starts to drag Hiro away, "we need our armor!"

" _You can't beat Noodle Burger Boy!_ " NBB chuckled and fired the blaster in the air. " _Hee-hee! Hee-hee! Hee-hee!_ "

* * *

Hiro was driving down the street frantically on his moped while Wasabi sat in the passenger seat calling the others.

"Noodle Burger Boy's at the dump, he took our mech suit and now he's got Baymax! Hiro and I are going back to the lab to get our amor."  
" _We've got our suits, we're on our way_." Gogo tells him on the other line, he almost fell off of the moped when Hiro skids past a corner.

"Woah Hiro slow down!"  
"I can't!" he yelled back, "we have to rescue Baymax!"

"We'll get him back but please don't cause a _car crash oh god_ -"

* * *

" _I fail to see how this makes you a better customer happiness representative,_ " Baymax's was gripped by the metal claw, he was watching NBB throw junk around the dump with his stolen mech.

" _That was my old job,_ " NBB tossed more junk around and looked at Baymax. " _My new owner reprogrammed to destroy Big Hero 6!_ "  
Baymax blinked, " _robots are designed to help humans._ "  
" _Golly mister, it looks like you're the one who needs help_ ," NBB's head whirled as he looked at Baymax. " _Big Hero 6 will be here any minute to try to rescue you. Too bad I'm going to destroy them!_ " He shot several blasts with the plasma blaster, then held out a few stickers, " _sticker?_ "

* * *

At SFIT, Hiro was placing his armor on in silence. He spared no glance at his friend, keeping his thoughts to himself. Why did he leave Baymax behind? Hiro knew there was nothing he could've done, but leaving the robot behind left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Look Hiro," he turns his head at the sound of Wasabi's voice.

"Sorry?..Yeah, me too." They didn't have to say what for.

"Maybe Baymax was right...again," Wasabi put on his shoulder pads, he went to grab Hiro's glove as his friend grabbed his plasma blades.

"Wasabi, wait!" Hiro stared at the plasma blades.  
"Yeah, I just think I had the same idea!" Wasabi nodded, both of them getting the same idea.

* * *

Back at the dump, Baymax was trying to wiggle free. " _Gee whiz mister, keep trying to escape, and I'll deep-fry you,_ " NBB told him. " _Extra crunchy style!_ "  
"Deep-fry this!" Gogo skidded over and threw a disk at NBB, he deflected it back with a broken car and tossed it at her. She dodged the car, as NBB started stomping towards her Honey Lemon from another trash pile and tossed a chem ball. However NBB grabbed it just like last time and tossed it back at her.  
"I always wanted to dive in to save someone like this!" Fred exclaimed as he leapt over and took the blow for his friend, he was trapped in violet colored goop.

Honey Lemon stared at him with shock, but it didn't last long because Gogo skated in and scooped her up bridal style and they both avoided another car thrown at them. As Gogo skids by, she passes by the crane that's holding Baymax, she glances to the control panel and gets an idea. As she lowers Honey Lemon and tosses a disk however, NBB blasts it away.

" _Golly miss, so predictable._ "

"What do we do?" Honey Lemon questioned.

"You try to-"  
" _Short out my suit with one of your chem balls while she skates around me real fast and hits me with one of her disks._ " Both of them stare at NBB with wide eyes and glance at each other. " _Or I could suggest a new order. Clean up on table five!_ "  
"Hey!" Gogo exclaims as NBB nets them.

" _Hee-hee-hee! I do swell well!_ " NBB spun his head around.

"We will beat you!" Fred told him, "our friends will be here to save us!"  
" _I know everything they are going to do too. That's the Noodle Burger Boy guarantee!_ "

"Hey! You might wanna rethink that!" NBB turns around at the sound of Hiro's voice.

"Yeah! We'd like to place an order...for payback!"

* * *

" _Gee whiz, something changed!_ " NBB noted that Hiro is wearing Wasabi's armor and Wasabi is wearing Hiro's armor. " _My algorithm is out of whack, I cannot predict what you will do. So I guess I'll just have to beat you with brute force._ " He picks up a piece of trash and chucks it at them.

Hiro slices it in half with the plasma blades, Wasabi yelps and shields himself from the blast with his hands.

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Hiro smirks, Wasabi picks up a piece of metal and throws it at NBB.

He leapt into the air, " _golly mister I did not!_ " NBB began to shoot the plasma blaster at them. " _You're really starting to grill my bun!_ " They both start to run away from the blasts.

"The mech suit's working really great!" Wasabi exclaims as they're running.  
"Yeah, nice job with the blasters!" Hiro tells him.

A plasma blast sends them flying towards the crane, " _hello_." Baymax greets them as they're dangling.

"Oh hi Baymax!" Wasabi greets back, Hiro gives the robot a pat on the tummy. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there real soon."

NBB is mad at that statement, " _that is not swell mister. Not swell at all!_ " He fires a blast that causes them to slip their grip. Wasabi manages to cling to the wall and grabs Hiro as he's slipping, however another blast sends them tumbling towards the ground.

" _Hey there, let me tell you about our new menu item.._ " NBB stomps towards them as he creates a plasma sword, " _chop suey!_ "

Hiro activates the plasma blades and deflects the blade, as he struggles in his defence NBB prepares the plasma blaster. Wasabi gets up and pushes the plasma blaster away so the blast is misfired, Hiro manages to get the upper ground and slashes the mech suit's legs.

" _Gee whiz, golly, howdy and hello!_ " NBB lands on the ground and prepares to escape.  
"Howdy and hello this!" Gogo managed to break free of the net and tossed it at him, he landed on the ground upside down.

" _Is this to go? Is this to go? Is this to go?_ "

Fred gets to the crane and starts lowering Baymax to the ground, "oh come on Gogo, you need a new battle cry, the whole 'blank this' thing is getting a little repetitive."

Honey Lemon creates a gooey cushion with one of her chem balls so Gogo and her could land safely on the ground.

"Nice going Wasabi," Hiro holds out his fist for a fist bump, Wasabi smirks and returns it.

"You too, little man."  
Baymax was lowered back on solid ground with success, he lifts a finger to the air. " _Hiro._ "

"I know Baymax," Hiro stared at the robot. "You were right all along, I'll listen next time."  
" _Noodle Burger Boy is getting away._ " Baymax pointed to the free robot, who was revving the engine on his go-kart. Not only did smoke come out of the go-kart, but also ketchup and mustard relishments.

_Yeah! Oh! Hee-hee!_

Gogo wipes away the mustard from her visor, "uhg, gross."  
"Yeah, but love that go-kart." Fred flips up his suit's hood and samples the ketchup, "mmhmm."  
"Should we go after Noodle Burger Boy?" Hiro pointed to the direction the robot drove away from.

Honey Lemon shakes her head, "no, it's getting late. We'll take care of him another day."

* * *

Above a pile of junk, a snowy cloaked figure eyes the superheroes. They watched as the group cleaned themselves up, picked up the mech suit, and left the area. When they were gone the figure jumped down on the ground, avoiding the splattered ketchup and mustard stains.  
"Hmm, this kind of problem is already going to be solved." Their voice was young, femminine, but worn, "Big Hero 6, I used to be curious about what you were when you first appeared." They placed a glove on their mask, stroking it.

"To be honest you all should be better at keeping your identity secret, criticism aside I pray I won't have to get you involved into my business until I can conclude that you are full-fledged heroes. At least this situation gives me the break I need from keeping my eyes peeled for those power hungry rats…"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Sara Ferns: Guys I loved the mech suit! It looked fabulous!  
Hiro Hamada: Ty

Wasabi: Thanks!  
Mikan Ferns: We're gonna win! Muahhahah

Gogo: You're starting to sound like Granville

Mikan Ferns: Why thank you : )

TheLittleMermaid: Send me a picture! I wanna see : D

Hiro Hamada: mech,jpeg

TheLittleMermaid: COOL! Hiro you build the coolest things!  
Hiro Hamada: Aww ty

Wasabi: I helped build it too…

* * *

Elsewhere..NBB walks into a lair, " _howdy and hello_." The robot's head drops down. " _I'm awful sorry mister, I totally messed up your order._ "

"Did you collect all the information I requested?" Obake steps out of the shadows and kneels down to NBB's level.

" _Golly I..I sure did mister._ " NBB stares up at him with shiny black eyes.  
"Well then, I'd say you did just..fine," he strokes the robot's head then plugs him into the computer. "Your database should fill in a few gaps." The computer beeps with 100% accuracy, Obake laughs as the pictures of Big Hero 6 showed _all_ of their real identities.  
"Big Hero 6..So nice to get to know you.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh snap, we're at the halfway point. I never though I'd get this far, sidenote why is it everytime I try to do "image . jpeg" it always cuts out.. darn fanfic site.


	31. Chapter 30: (Small Hiro One) Little Ari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Trevor Trengrove visits SFIT!  
> But Ari is more interested in who Hiro has to help out for the day

Hiro was _exhausted_.

No joke, he spent the entire night looking for a shipment of stolen nickel-titanium alloy only to get attacked by it in an abandoned warehouse. Well to be fair Yama turned it into a robot called "Mega Yama" and he had to call the entire team for backup. In all the chaos he couldn't get a chance to interrogate Yama about what he wanted with Ari in the first place, but then again..He had shown no interest in reclaiming her in the past few weeks. If only he could tell Ari that in a manner that wouldn't compromise her secret identity. Hiro was lucky Yama didn't recognize him as anything other than a member of Big Hero 6 or else.

He shoved Baymax up the cafe stairs, when he got to his room and deactivated the robot in his charging station. However, he saw a pair of bright blue eyes blinking in the darkness.

"Hiiiii Ari," Hiro sweated, there was no way of digging himself out of this one.  
"I saw you went on a late walk with Baymax and thought I'd stay up until you get back," she told him, _oh.._ Hiro gave a sigh of relief. "Sara told me this morning that there would be some big event at your school tomorrow, is it keeping you up?"  
 _Well yeah and giant nickel-titanium alloy robot created by a dangerous criminal but that too_..Hiro thought, "yeah..A little, I'm just so excited!"  
"Hm, this Trengrove guy visiting your school must be real special alright," Ari hummed, "I don't really see the appeal."  
"Well my brother was a huge fan of his," Hiro sat down on his bed, and tucked himself in.  
"Oh...I'm sorry.." Ari was speechless.  
"No no, you're allowed to have your opinions," he shook his head, "though I agree with you a little, I don't see the appeal of his sport drink brand..Tadashi thought otherwise. Want me to tell you about it?"  
"Sure," Ari nodded, "but if it makes you too sad you can stop."  
He chuckled at her concern, "I'm not made of glass, but I appreciate the concern." Hiro cleared his throat and began his story. "So three and a half bins full of my microbot project for the showcase, I was starting to get pretty frustrated at how slow progress was going. So Tadashi brought a bunch of Trengrove's sports drinks and started drinking them like crazy as he worked, and even offered me a bunch."

"That sounds like a bad idea."  
"Yeah it was, the result? Sugar high Tadashi and I running around not getting any work done and driving Aunt Cass up a wall, I think she started stress eating when we crashed." He chuckled, his eyes starting to feel droopy and he yawned.  
"Woah, you sound tuckered out," Ari yawned as well, "now you're making me do it too."  
They both chuckled, "the workshop is for students only, but it would be awesome if you waited with me," Hiro told her.

"Oh course I will! What kind of friend do you think I am?"  
"A medium quality one, not as good as others but still good enough."  
"Hey!"

* * *

_The next morning…_

Hiro and the gang (minus Fred) were in line for the inventor's workshop for-

"Trevor Trengrove!" Wasabi squealed with joy. Ari winced and covered her eyes, she was only keeping them company in line, as since she was not an SFIT student she couldn't go in.

"Wow. It's a good thing we got here early," Honey Lemon looked at the huge line behind them, "looks like the whole school showed up."  
"Except the Fern kids, I don't see them anywhere," Ari squinted, were they back farther in line?  
"Their loss," Hiro had a copy of Trengrove's thesis in his hands, "I mean an inventor's workshop with _the_ Dr. Trevor Trengrove is too good to pass up!"  
"What's this about a loss?" They tilted their heads to see Mikan walking up to them.

"You're budging in line Mikan," Wasabi told her, she shrugged.  
"Eh neither me nor my siblings are going in anyways, Sally _forbade_ us from going. Did you know when Granville told her that Trengrove was coming she literally was frothing at the mouth?" Mikan gestured to the blue-haired professor, who was staring at the large line with anger, "she is not a Trengrove fan that's for sure, we just came for the free ice cream anyways, David and Sara aren't fans either."  
"Weird," Gogo shrugged, she was then pulled into several selfies in front of the workshop with Honey Lemon.  
"The Dr. Trevor Trengrove!" Honey Lemon exclaimed as she snapped the pictures.

" _Your heart rate has accelerated to 119 beats per minute._ " Baymax told her, " _either indication tachycardia, extreme distress, or-_ "  
"Excitement?" Gogo raised an eyebrow.

"Baymax, Dr. Trengrove is like a science rock star!" Honey Lemon handed the robot a picture of him.  
"Who has really weird sports drinks," Ari speaks up, they all look at her, "what? Hiro told me a funny story yesterday."

"Well he's okay, for a male scientist," Gogo crosses her arms.  
"Mood," Mikan high fives her.  
"Oh come on girls, he's SFITs most famous alumni," Wasabi complained.

"I thought that was Hiro's brother?" They all look at Ari again, "..whenever I visit I sometimes overhear people talking about him, so I guessed he was a very famous person? I mean..there's a school memorial dedicated to him."  
Hiro gave a small smile, then ruffled her hair, "you're so sweet Ari, my brother would've melted at your words."  
"Thanks..I try to be."  
"Well if it weren't for Trengrove's breakthrough in artificial intelligence, there'd be no Baymax," Hiro holds up the thesis. "I'm gonna get him to sign Tadashi's copy of his thesis."  
"Aww," Mikan hummed, "so cute."  
"I heard that sometimes he picks some students to work with one-on-one!" Honey Lemon exclaims.  
"I'm pretty sure we all know who he'll pick today." Both Hiro and Ari tilt their heads to see Karmi standing next to them in line.  
"Yeah, I think we do." Hiro replies back in a snarky manner.  
"Aw thanks Hiro, glad we agree," Karmi smirks, Hiro lifts up a finger to complain but Mikan steps in.

"Settle down children," she tells them, then turns to Karmi. "You too you little germ."  
"Stop calling me that.." Karmi grumbles through gritted teeth, Mikan just chuckles and pats her on the head.

"Hey Mikan I think you should leave Karmi alone," Ari speaks up, Mikan stares down at her with that sharp green glare.  
"Hmm?" She flashes her sharp teeth, "we're just being pals, c'mon Ari you and I both know that Karmi could use all the pals she could get." Karmi on the other hand looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here.  
"Even I can tell you're overstepping her boundaries," Hiro pointed out, Mikan then stepped away from the group.  
"Alright, fine, fine." She started walking away, "jeez you all are so touchy today.."

Karmi turns to stare at Hiro, confused that he spoke up, she opens her mouth to speak but it was cut off by the sounds of students cheering.

A well-dressed man with brown hair and blue eyes was taking photos with fellow students, Wasabi was bouncing with joy as he walked towards their group, "who's jazzed for some science?"  
"Me me me me me me me!" Wasabi squealed, Ari glanced at her friend's joyful expressions and took a lucky guess that the man was the Dr. Trevor Trengrove everyone was hyped about.

"This guy gets it!" Trevor walks past him and heads over to Hiro, he picks up his thesis with a pen, "what's your name little buddy?"  
"Hiro Hamada, and I am such a big fan-"  
"Here, have a sports drink!" Trevor tosses him his "Jumper Cable" sports drink, finishes signing the thesis and moving on. _I don't get the appeal.._ Ari questions what everyone in SFIT sees that's so famous about him..besides the thesis of course.

"Little buddy!" Karmi snickers at Hiro, who huffs.

"At least he signed the…" Hiro takes one look at the notebook and cringes, "Kiro!" Trevor misspelled his name with a "k".

"Yikes…" Ari flinches, the sound of a door opening brings their attention.  
"Alright students! Single file line," Granville opened up the workshop doors. "I will distribute your wristbands for entry."

Ari gives Hiro a hug, "have fun at the workshop."  
"Thanks," he smiles, she watches him go as the students enter one by one. Ari gives Karmi a wave as she enters the workshop, the Biotech Major gives a small wave back.

As Hiro holds out his arm to receive his wristbands, Granville lifts a hand up in objection. "I'm sorry Mr. Hamada, but per Dr. Trengrove's request, this event has a strict age cut-off at 16."

"Bummer Kiro," Karmi whips her ponytail behind as she enters the workshop, Hiro glares in anger as she leaves.

As Hiro follows Granville like a sad puppy somewhere else, he notices Ari is trailing behind in concern.  
"Professor Granville this isn't fair," he complained, "I'm an SFIT student just like everyone else."  
" _Except that you are significantly younger,_ " Baymax pointed out.

"But not to worry," Granville tells him, "I've arranged for you to assist at an equally prestigious workshop." The workshop was located at the Sciencetorium, Ari had been there a few times whenever she visited the school, what kind of scientist that's on Trevor's level worked there?"

* * *

"It's woweroo time!" Apparently the green-haired, bright colored clothes wearing Wendy Wower. A well known scientist who inspired young children everywhere to get into the science career, but to Hiro..It felt like an insult to get forced to help a kid's show scientist help teach a bunch of kindergarteners science.

"Wendy Wower.." he gave a deadpan stare as all the children cheered.  
"Wendy Wower!" That was Fred who exclaimed, cutting past them and joining the cheering kids, Ari raised an eyebrow.  
"She kind of sounds familiar…" Ari hummed, "I think I used to watch her show..when I was little." She joined Fred in sitting next to the kids.

"Hey, I have an idea," Wendy pulls out a ukulele, "let's sing the Wendy Wower Wowerooskidoo song!" She starts playing the instrument, and the kids (plus Fred) start singing.  
" _I'm a woweroo! I love science yes I do! I'm a woweroo! I love science yes I do!_ " Ari stares for a few moments, then starts singing as well, a little behind everyone else though, Hiro just takes one look and facepalms.

* * *

Back at the workshop, Honey Lemon grabbed Gogo and Wasabi into a group selfie. "Everybody say Trengrove!"

"No."  
"Trengrove!" Behind them, Karmi was trying to find a seat and she noticed they were taking a picture.  
"Wait! I don't wanna be in your-"  
 _Snap!_

The flash goes off and Karmi's face scrunches up from the blinding light.

"Just gotta pick a filter!" Honey Lemon hummed, "ooh puggle face!"

* * *

Hiro pouted as he watched the other kids run around and play, bitter that he couldn't get into the workshop. His phone buzzed with a text and he looked at it.

Honey Lemon: Wish you were here! Photo,jpeg

He opened up the photo to see the others with puggle faces on them, in the background was Karmi, who also had a puggle face on and looked ridiculous.

He smirked at the photo, "oh that's a keeper."  
"What's a keeper?" Ari leaned over his shoulder to look at his phone, she snickered, "oh my god."

"Okay woweroos!" All of the kids looked up at Wendy, "who's ready to make gloop?"  
The children cheer, "gloop!" Fred exclaims, most excited out of all of them. Ari was looking forward to it as well.  
"My super special helper Hiro," Wendy gestures to Hiro, he was wearing a "Wower Power" hat and looked _done_ with everything, "is going to pass out the gloop-gredients!"

Hiro starts pouring ingredients for all the kids to enjoy as Wendy explains more about the gloop. "Gloop is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means it's a little bit liquid, a little bit solid, and a whole lotta fun!"  
"I want mine to be green!" A small blonde girl named Brooke exclaimed.

"Green's a great goop color!" Wendy told her.  
"Oooh ooh oh! Can I name mine Herman?" Fred asks her.

"Hermans a great gloop name!"

Ari watched as Hiro placed water into the bowl of a blond haired boy with a skull t-shirt and many googles, "I fear nothing," he said in a creepy voice. Hiro just stared at him and then walked away.

"Fred, what are you doing here?" Hiro asked his friend as he walked by his table and poured water into his bowl.

"Oh, I'm a long time woweroo," he explained as he fidgeted with his gloop, "Wendy Wower's Science Hour used to come on after my favorite show, 'Bright Lights, Loud Noises.'"

"Well, glad someone's having fun."  
 _Splat!_

Baymax was playing with gloop as well and it accidentally flew on Hiro's face, he just frowned at his misery. " _Oh._ "  
"Chin up Hiro!" Ari wiped the gloop off of his face, "I'm sure your day will get better!"  
"I doubt it.."

* * *

"I asked SFIT to send me its best and brightest. And, looking around this room I can tell they listened." Back at Trevor's workshop, he was giving a speech to the eager students, "Darren, can I get a follow spot?" The lights turn off and a spotlight falls on Trevor, following him as he walks around the stage.

"You're a lucky bunch, after all without SFIT I wouldn't have had my career." He stands in front of the bottom row, "I assume most of you are familiar with my thesis, 'Artificial Fun-telligence'."  
A student holds up the thesis, they all clap and cheer, "with a little luck and just a bit of that Trengrove magic, the work you do might catapult you to fame and fortune as well!"

"Like me!" He points to himself, "that's enough Darren," and the lights turn back on.

"Excuse me Dr. Trengrove?" Karmi raises her hand, "hi, Karmi, love everything about you. Um, how exactly will you be selecting the students for the hands-on portion of the workshop?"

"Get out the hose, we've got a spitfire!" Trevor exclaims, "what's your major, Karmi?"

"Biotech."  
"Guess what? Biotech majors get first dibs on the free ice cream in the lobby! Go check it out!"  
"Okay!" Karmi gets up from her seat to take a look, once she leaves the room however, the doors slam shut. "Wait.." She attempts to open the doors but they won't open.

"Did he just kick Karmi out?" Wasabi gestures to the door.

"I like this guy more and more," Gogo smirked.  
"It was kind of mean though," Honey Lemon frowned.

* * *

_Back at Wendy's workshop.._

Ari was having a blast! She was sitting next to the creepy goggle kid (who's name was Michael), and she colored her gloop a deep shade of blue.

"This stuff is addicting," she smirked, however the feeling of nostalgia was always with her as she continued to have fun in the workshop. There were also faint flashbacks that consisted of bright colors and fuzzy pictures, but she knew that this wasn't her first time in a Wendy Wower workshop.

"Thanks for helping with the cleanup super glooper Hiro!" Wendy bounced over to Hiro and placed a woweroo sticker on his chest.

"Wow...eroo.." Hiro gave a fake cheer, Wendy noticed his sadness.  
"Hey, are you okay?" Wendy places a hand on his shoulder, "if you want, I can see if that..big..woweroo wants to be my helper instead." She gestures to Baymax whose fingers are sticky with purple gloop.

"No it's-its fine," he pouted.

"You just wish you could be in Dr. Trengrove's workshop instead, huh?" Hiro looks away with guilt, "look, I get it. Even when we were back at SFIT, he was the star."  
"You went to SFIT?" Both Hiro and Ari questioned, the latter walking up to them.

"That's so cool!" Ari exclaimed.

"You know Trevor Trengrove?" Hiro asked her.  
Wendy started placing books on the shelf, "he was my lab partner for..a while. We had different ways of doing things."

"Oh man! It must've been awesome to work with him!"

"It was..an experience."  
Baymax walked up to them, " _I am unable to remove the gloop from my hands_."

"Come here, big guy, I'll fix you right up." She leads Baymax over to the sink and washes the gloop away with a warm towel.

" _Thank you_." Baymax tells her when she removed all of the gloop, Hiro just sits on the counter looking at his phone and Ari stares at Wendy with curiosity. She looked..familiar.

Wendy inspected the robot, "Oh, hyper-spectral cameras, carbon fiber skeleton? Killer actuators, ooh are those super capacitors?"  
It sounded like tech mumbo jumbo to Ari, but Hiro recognized it. "Uh..yeah, wow were you a robotics major?

"Sure was," Wendy patted Baymax on the chest, "nifty bot you got there."  
She pulls out her ukelele, "hey, that's not a bad song title!" She starts to sing, "that's a real super-duper nifty bot! Nanofluids keep it from getting too hot!"

Hiro looks at another picture Honey Lemon sent him and decides to not wait around anymore, he slid off of the counter. "Hey, would it be okay if Baymax and I went to explore the rest of the museum?"  
"Oh well, sure," Wendy nodded. "Exploration is the backbone of science, where there is explora-"

Hiro and Baymax had already exited the room, "discovery is never far behind!" She calls after them, "aw."

* * *

"Dr. Wower? Can I ask you something?" Ari looked up at her with wide blue eyes.  
"Of course!" She replied.  
"Do you..recognize me?"

"Hmm?" Wendy tilted her head in confusion, "could you please specify?"  
"You kind of look familiar to me, have we met before?" Ari asked again, "my memory is really fuzzy nowadays and it's kind of hard to remember stuff, but I've been getting a nostalgia trip here.."  
Wendy stared at her, trying to match her fluffy brown hair and blue eyes with any kid she's met before, "hmm…" Her eyes then widened. "Little Ari!" I do recognize you!"  
"You do!?" Ari perked up, _maybe she could help me with my memory problem! Finally a clue at last!_

"Yeah! You were the smallest kid in a group I taught once! I almost thought you were mute because you didn't talk until at the end of it. You loved it when I talked a little about Marine Biology, and so fascinated with the types of sea animals, though you didn't like the eels."  
Ari giggled, mentally picturing a tiny version of her cowering over a picture of those slimy creatures in a book, "I still hate them to this day..Disgusting slippery vermin!"  
"I didn't know you moved to San Fransokyo, you seemed really happy where you lived," Wendy hummed.

"Um…" Now was the awkward part, "you see.." Ari gave a quick explanation to her about the amnesia and her current place of residence.  
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that," Wendy gave her a warm hug, "I'm glad to hear you're doing alright despite all of that."  
"Mhmm," Ari let go of the hug, "did you by any chance..meet my parents? When you taught that group? I barely remember them!"

Wendy gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry sweetie, I didn't get a chance to meet them, but you mentioned how much they love you and I'm sure they're looking for you right now."  
She stared at her feet, the tears threatening to pool out, "can I..go to find Hiro? I just..need someone to talk to right now, and he's the closest person I know."  
"Of course," Wendy patted her shoulder, "don't worry Ari, I had a friend at SFIT that had amnesia once, and she ended up doing great with a happy career, a caring husband, and three loving kids. So things will get better soon alright?" She wiped her tears away.  
"T-thank you," Ari gave her another hug then left to find Hiro.

* * *

She found Hiro looking at periscope, a rather long line behind him. He saw the line and stepped away, "sorry, didn't know there was a line."

"Hiro!" Ari called him, he ran up to her.

"Um Ari I was trying to find a way to get into the workshop, no offense to Dr. Wower but _I_ need to get in there!" He then saw her puffy cheeks, "Are you okay?"  
"No, not really." She explained what happened in the conversation with Wendy, "I just need a hug."  
Baymax scooped her into one of his hugs, " _there there, you will be alright_." He patted her on the head.

Hiro squeezed into the hug as well, "you can always ask me for hugs Ari."

"Aww thanks," she smiled, "I guess I can help you get into Dr. Trengrove's workshop as payment."

"Yes!"

* * *

At Dr. Trengrove's workshop… SFIT's students were racing to build a piezoelectric generator for some reason. As the students worked, he looked at them.  
"Hey, I notice you're wearing a Space Hike shirt," Trevor gestured to a student.  
"Yeah, I'm an astro science major," the student replied.

"Well guess what? Astro science majors get second dibs on the free ice cream!" He shoves the dejected student out the door, "go on! Take a space hike out to the lobby!"

"He's kicking out everyone who isn't a physics, engineering, or chemistry major," Honey Lemon noted. Seeing as the room had a _lot_ fewer students than before, first it was Karmi who got kicked out...Then half of the students.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Wasabi argued, "he's the Dr. Tren-"  
"Done," Gogo finished hers, and Trevor went over to her table.  
"Gogo! You can stay-stay!" He told her.

"Done!" Wasabi and Honey Lemon exclaimed.  
"Hmm, yes." Trevor looked at their models, "these look promising."  
Honey Lemon held up her model. "Oh do you want to test them or-"

"Everyone else enjoy that free ice cream bar! Just save some for me! I love me some ice cream!" Trevor told the rest of the remaining student body, who left the room in sorrowful states.

Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon watched all of their peers leave in awkward silence as Trevor gave weird chuckles.  
"Also, I need your phones."

* * *

" _I have reservations._ "  
"Oh come on it'll work!"  
"I trust you Ari." The girl's idea to see if Granville was at the door was to fill Baymax with helium, so he'd float and could have a bird's eye view of the door.  
"Just tell us what you see," Hiro instructed.

" _It is partly cloudy, with a 30 percent chance of-_ "  
"No! Trengrove!"

Baymax scanned the area, he saw movement on the upper levels of the workshop. " _I see Dr. Trengrove taking Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon into another room._ " He then scanned the back entrance of the door. " _And Yama is standing outside the Pavilion entrance_."  
Ari gasps with horror, "oh no he's here for me!"  
"Calm down!" Hiro grabs her by the shoulders, "Yama won't get you I pro-" he then realizes the seriousness of the situation. "Yama?" Here at SFIT?

That could only mean one thing: danger.


	32. Chapter 31: (Small Hiro One) Silly Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro and Ari find some truths, and realizations

Hiro and Ari rushed back to Wendy's workshop in a panicked frenzy.

"Fred, something's wrong!" Hiro runs up to Fred.

"No I'm pretty sure that's what baking soda and vinegar are supposed to do," Fred gestured to his active volcano, the woweroos had been making toy volcanoes when they left.  
"Aww I missed it," Ari frowned, she wanted to stick around to witness that.

"Don't worry Ari," Fred patted her on the shoulder, "we can make a volcano another day."  
"Thanks."  
"Ari, remember why we came back?" Hiro gestured, "Yama's back!" She yelped, looked around and hid behind Hiro fearing mentioning the name would cause the criminal to appear.

"Wait, 'Yama' Yama? He's back?" Fred questioned.

"Fred, how many Yamas do we know?"

Fred took off his safety goggles and glared at his partner, "you've won this round Brooke, let's go guys." He stands up, Ari just facepalms at him.  
Michael walks up to them, holding his volcano. "I can hear the tiny screams…"  
Hiro is creeped out (again), "uhh..yeah, cool.." But then he glances at everyone's volcanoes and gets an idea.

"Dr. Wower," Hiro walks up to Wendy, "we need your help, everyone's help, really, and uh, a bunch of volcanoes."  
"Oh what for?" Wendy asked.  
"It's a long story," Ari sighed, she walked up to her and whispered a short explanation into her ear, Wendy's eyes widened at the explanation.  
"Oh my...Well of course you can have our help," she tells them.

* * *

Wasabi frowned, Trevor had given all of them blueprints to work on separately but he was stuck on his. "This isn't gonna work.."  
"Make it work!" Trevor pops out from behind a curtain, causing Wasabi to yelp. "I mean, I could show you how, but then what would you learn? Nothing!" He closed the curtain, and Wasabi looked puzzled at his behavior.

Trevor peeks over where Honey Lemon is working, she notices that he's watching and stares back. "Dr Trengrove? Um, I don't really understand why we can't work together."  
"Well you like selfies right? Well think of this like working by your-selfie!" He responded.

"But you took our phones.." and he moves away.

He then checks up on Gogo, who's focusing on a circuit board, "here, have a sports drink!" Trevor offers one to her.  
"No." Gogo doesn't spare a glance, Trevor closes the curtain but places the sports drink next to her table, she just goes back to work.

* * *

Back outside, Ari was following Wendy like a little duckling. "Volcanoes on the move! Stay with your buddies woweroos!" She tells the kids who are in a single file line, holding their volcano models.

As Hiro follows everyone else, Karmi walks up to him and blocks his path. "Hi little boy, did you learn to make pretend volcanoes with a fake scientist from a kids show?" She spoke in a baby tone.

"Uhh, what are you doing here?" He questioned, when he looked on the periscope he saw Karmi and half of the student body outside eating ice cream angrily but had no idea what that was about.

"Just taking a break from all the cool grown-up science stuff," Karmi tells him.  
"She lies.." Michael popped up out of nowhere and whispered loud enough for both of them to hear, Ari notices that he strayed from the group and gestures for him to come over. But she sees Hiro and Karmi and tiptoes over, curious what they're talking about.

Karmi sighs and slumps her shoulders, "Trengrove kicked me out.."  
"Sorry," Hiro told her in a sympathetic tone.

"Thanks.." She smiles up at him, and Hiro returns the smile. They both stare at each other, smiling for a while, then realize what they're doing and turn away gagging. Ari snorts in amusement, finding their reactions funny.

* * *

Back in the other room, Trevor checks in on Honey Lemon again. "How's it going Honey Lemon?" She steps back because he had a wide smile on his face, which creeped her out.  
"Well the schematics you gave me appear to be for a lightweight protected endoskeleton," she pointed out.

"Protective exoskeleton..yes! That's exactly what it's for!"

"It would weigh less and be more durable if you use colloid fluid as liquid armor."  
"Right, right, which means..?" Trevor leans in, "chalk it out with me."  
"Which means, if I stick this pencil in slowly, it will go through." Honey Lemon demonstrates, "but if I try to jam it in fast, the particles stick together!" The pencil breaks when she stabs the fluid with it.

"And it's pink because..?" He gestured to the color.

"Because pink!"  
"Love it!" Treven then checks in with Wasabi. "Hey buddy! How's it going with the mm…."

"The fast-paced projectile system?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow.  
"Right! The mega fast-paced projectile system! See, that's where the M came from," Trevor gives a nervous chuckle.  
"Well, if you use plasma instead of traditional projecticles," Wasabi starts to explain, "you can make the whole thing more powerful-" But then it activates and hits the wall, and also touches Trevor's shoulder, he yelped with shock. "Ooh sorry about that!"

"Science! I dig it!" Trevor isn't bothered and high-fives Wasabi. Then he checks on Gogo.

"Gogo!"  
"Back off, I'm in the zone."

"Fair enough." Trevor steps out of the room to answer a phone call.

Yama was on the other line, "you have one hour!" The criminal tells him. "Deliver or this goes viral!" He holds up a flash drive to the screen.

"Hey, hey, put that away!" Trevor exclaimed, "I'm almost there." Yama ended the call and he huffed. But then switched his frown back to his smirk.

Meanwhile Yama stares at the phone with anger, "hey new friends!" He looks up to see Wendy and the rest of the woweroos. "These little guys have been working on a very special project all day, and we're hoping they can show it to you!" She gestures to the toy volcanoes all the kids are holding.

"Not interested," Yama huffed.  
"Please mister?" Brooke gives him her best puppy eyes, "it's real cool!"  
"The explosion will be magnificent.." Michael added in.

"Okay woweroos!" as Wendy instructs the kids, Ari, Hiro, Fred, and Baymax sneak around the back. "One, two…"  
"I hope that works," Ari whispered as the volcanoes go off and the other minions are impressed, "otherwise we're dead." Hiro managed to get her up to the window and she tries to help the others get up, which causes a noise that alerts Yama.

"What was that?" He looks up and sees Baymax and Ari already on the window, and Hiro pulls Fred up, "Zero..and that girl Obake had me abduct!"

"HIRO!" Ari alerts her friend, he gasps and pulls Fred up the window in a hurry and gets in.

"I told Trengrove no fourteen year old brats to keep out that brat!"

* * *

At the room, the others were idling.  
"What happens next?" Wasabi questioned.  
"He said he had to evaluate our projects," Honey Lemon answered.  
"Where's our ice cream?" Gogo popped her bubblegum with annoyance.

Hiro and the others enter the room at that moment, "something's up! Yama's outside!" They all gasp and Trevor comes back from another door.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in here!" he exclaimed.  
"Don't worry Dr. Trengrove, we'll get you out safely," Hiro informed him. At that moment Yama entered the room, Ari yelped and ducked behind Wasabi.

"Time's up Trengove! Where's my robot?!" Yama exclaimed.

"Robot?" Ari questioned.  
"Wait, what?" Wasabi and the others turn to face Trevor.  
"You should all be very proud of your work.." He stated, the wall next to him burst open, they all leaped back as it was Mega Yama. The robot they managed to defeat the night before but it was back, and this time in a magenta color and it flew over to Yama, him and his minions hopped onto the robot's back.  
"Thanks Dr. Phony!" Yama chuckled, he blasted the wall open and flew outside.  
"Was that?.." Honey Lemon walked up to the hole.  
"Mega Yama? Yep." Hiro nodded.

"You were working for Yama?!" Wasabi exclaimed at Trevor.  
"What's wrong with you!?" Ari added.  
"Okay yes! But it was because he was blackmailing me with some very incriminating information on that flash drive!" Trevor explained, "so..so I think that makes it okay, right?"  
"No! You tricked us into helping you build a weapon!" Honey Lemon walked up to Trevor, _livid_ he tried to excuse himself.

"Uhg, to defeat Big Hero 6!" Gogo huffed.  
"Now it's gonna be even harder to take it down.." Hiro mumbled under his breath, he turned to see Ari walking up to Trevor, he could hear her angry growling.

"Baymax?" Hiro turned to the robot, gesturing to Ari.

"You...two-timing rat!" Ari leapt at Trevor, but Baymax held her back, she tried grabbing at him though. "Hiro was dying to get into your stupid presentation! And you were working with a criminal! Baymax let me at him! Let me at him!" Ari growled, fury was in her blue eyes, Trevor took a few steps back.  
" _Violence is not the recommended source of action,_ " Baymax told her, " _I suggest deep calming breaths._ "  
"I am calm!" Ari exclaimed, Hiro grabbed her arm before she could try to punch herself free.

"Woah, it's okay Ari." Hiro told her, "we're gonna go try to find the superheroes okay? You head back down to the woweroos and wait for us alright?"  
Ari just glared back, but her gaze softened, "alright.." she mumbled, at Baymax let her go, "I just...that guy..and…" She held her head down low and exited the room.  
"She's got some anger issues," Trevor commented, only for everyone else to give him dirty looks.

"C'mon guys, we gotta stop Yama," Hiro told his friends.

* * *

Downtown, Mega Yama was flying through the streets, with Big Hero 6 flying after them.

"I can't believe we upgraded Mega Yama!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.

"I wonder what Yama had on Trengrove?" Wasabi questioned.  
"That his sports drink tastes like dumpster juice?" Gogo suggested.

Fred who was slurping one of his sports drinks stopped drinking, "oh! That's what that taste is." He shrugs it off and continues slurping.

"Guys!" Hiro pointed to the streets, where Yama glared back at the superheroes and had his robot head towards the docks. They landed on the ground in front of Mega Yama.

"Little Hero 6!" Yama taunted them, "Mega Yama's ready for our rematch!" He was flanked by two of his minions, "get them!"

* * *

When Ari walked back to the woweroo group, she saw Karmi was idling by the group, Wendy waved at her seeing she returned, all the kids were sitting down and talking to each other.

"Are you okay?" Karmi asked her as she walked up to her, Ari shook her head. "What happened?"  
"I don't wanna talk about it," Ari grumbled, "but Hiro dodged a bullet by not being allowed into the workshop, it was a scam and that's all I'm going to say."  
"Oh.." Karmi hummed, "I don't think I wanna know."  
"Trust me..you don't, man I wanted to pop that guy in the mouth for keeping poor Hiro out..Not cool," Ari crossed her arms and grumbled. Karmi just stared at her, a curious look on her face.

"You care for Hiro a lot," Ari looked up, "more than a friend."  
"Well, we're really close friends, besties!" Ari pointed out, "nothing romantic because that's gross!"  
"No, I wasn't going to say romantic," Karmi shook her head, "but you and Hiro treat each other more than friends."

"What are you talking about?" Ari raised an eyebrow.

There was a neutral expression on her friend's face, "I'm trying to say that you and Hiro treat each other like siblings, and I should know because I have two younger siblings."  
Ari just stared at her like a fish out of water, her eyes bulging and her jaw wide.

"..I swear I saw Mikan and all of your friends dropping hints, it shouldn't be that hard," Karmi was puzzled at her shock, "did neither of you consider thinking of each other as siblings?"

She shook her head, "I can't tell Hiro that!"

"Is it that hard?"  
"Yes! Hiro already lost a sibling once! I can't-"  
"Can't what?" Karmi sighed, "Hiro might be the most arrogant and annoying student on campus, but I can tell that he cares about you a lot. Just tell him how you feel."  
"Easy for you to say Ms. I am the most antisocial person ever!" Ari snapped, she saw Karmi recoil and feel guilty. "I'm sorry, just..I don't want to end up hurting Hiro, if anything happens to me."  
"It's alright, but if you keep agonizing over what to do..both of you will get hurt. The best thing to do is to just get it off your chest, maybe Hiro feels the same way."  
"Who knows," Ari sighed, "he probably has other problems to worry about now."

* * *

Hiro had one big problem to worry about now, and that was Mega Yama.

"Oh, why did we have to be so smart?!" Wasabi exclaimed, as the robot was much more powerful due to their upgrades.

Mega Yama blasted Fred to the ground, "my volcano!" He exclaimed as his volcano model fell out of his suit's pocket.

The robot then turned its attention to Baymax and Hiro, who were flying towards it and it blasted them to the docks, Baymax crashing into a building wall and Hiro landing on the ground. The robot beeps as it scans Hiro and prepares to attack him. He yelped and shielded himself with his arms preparing to be hit but Baymax was keeping it at bay. However, Mega Yama prepared it's plasma blaster. As Baymax was getting shoved by the robot, Hiro noticed the volcano model.

"Honey Lemon!" Hiro called his friend, "I need a ball of sodium hydrogen carbonate, and a ball of acetic acid!"  
"But that's just baking soda and vinegar!" Honey Lemon pointed out.

"Yes! Hurry!"

Honey Lemon prepared the two chem balls, and tossed them into the air, Fred grabbed them. "Volcano time!" He placed them into Mega Yama's blaster, "I love science! Yes I do!" The reaction caused Mega Yama to explode with the volcano formula flowing out of the robot's limbs, the blast caused Yama himself to be knocked back into the water, he swam away with anger.

"Oh I wish Brooke were here to see this," Fred and the rest of the team admired their handiwork.

"We better get back to SFIT," Gogo held up the flash drive she managed to snatch from Yama during the fight, "and get this back to Trengrove."

* * *

Back at SFIT, Ari and the kids were sitting down and listening to another song. But it wasn't Wendy who was singing, it was actually Karmi, who actually knew how to play a ukulele.

" _Pest resistance, fuel production, and bioremediation, those are just some practical applications of biotech, and the field of agriculture,_ " the other kids looked at each other while she sang, while Michael and Ari rocked out to the song. " _Yeah, yeah yeah_ ," Karmi ended the song.  
"That was...very catchy," Wendy commented.  
"I liked it!" Ari chirped, "you have a great voice Karmi!" They all glanced as the building door opened and Trevor walked out.

He noticed them in an instant, "Wendy?" she crossed her arms at him as he walked up to them, looking rather guilty. Ari glared at him with anger, still livid he used this important event to the students as a way to pay off his blackmail.

However there was a whooshing sound and all of Big Hero 6 arrived on the scene, Karmi dropped the ukulele at the sight of their purple leader.

"It's him!" She gasped, he walked past her.  
"Hello Karmi! You know, you should be nicer to people, like that genius kid at your school." Purple told her, but she didn't pay attention.  
"He knows my name!" Ari just giggled at her fangirling.  
"Welcome to the club," she chuckled, "we have cookies."  
Purple walked up to Wendy and Trevor, "Doctor? I think this belongs to you," he had a flash drive that Trevor picked up with reluctance.  
"Trevor?"  
"Yes! The flash drive is proof that the thesis I built my career on was stolen from you, okay!" Trevor exclaimed, for the second time that day Ari's jaw dropped open.

"I was just going to say it's good to see you," Wendy took the flash drive. "But I'm glad to hear you admit that after all these years."  
Purple was in shock as well, "you stole her thesis?"  
Trevor rubbed his head, "I based my entire career on her work. I haven't felt great about it, if it helps," he got a glare in response, Trevor sighed. "Wendy, I'm sorry," he turned to his old friend, "and I wanna try to make things right, it's time for the world to know the truth."

Wendy smiled up at him, "I-"  
"Oh now he admits it!" they both whipped their heads around to see Sally standing there, her arms crossed and her golden eyes burning holes into Trevor. "Was fame and fortune too much for ya Dr. Trengrove?" She spoke in a mocking voice.  
Trevor just stared at her in shock, "S-Sally?"  
"Yep," she walked up to him, "guess you forgot I teach here nowadays, then again you don't bother to check up on old friends."

"Good to see you again Sal," Wendy greeted her, "please don't give Trevor a hard time."  
"Oh I won't," Sally shrugged, then she got rather close to his face, "you're lucky that I am more mature than I was in my youth, otherwise I would've slapped your jaw off."  
"Do it," Ari commanded, Purple just shook his head at her.  
"No."

"Rats.."

* * *

Later that night, Wendy, Hiro, and Ari were walking around campus. "Trengrove was a fraud, and you're the real deal." He commented when told the truth by Ari, "heh, I can't believe I had it so wrong."  
"You and me both," Ari chuckled, "but I thought you took it very maturely Dr. Wower, by finding something to do and teaching kids like me about science!"  
"Thanks," Wendy smiled, "come on, I wanna see how SFIT's changed since I was a student."  
"Still in shock you went to class with one of my friends' parents, who also teaches here." Ari mumbled under her breath.

"Well, the robotics lab of course," Hiro gestured around campus as they walked, "there's Tadashi Hamada Hall," he started drinking from the water fountain.

 _Did neither of you consider thinking of each other as siblings? Just tell him how you feel._ Karmi's words came back to Ari as she observed Hiro, was she right? Were they close as siblings?

"This place is so special to me," Wendy hummed, "it's where I really learned to believe in myself. All thanks to the most caring, loving, enthusiastic teacher I've ever had..Professor Granville." Hiro spat out his water in shock.  
"Granville? I thought she started at SFIT this year?" He questioned Wendy.  
"Nope. She was here twenty years ago," she explained, Hiro just stared, frowning.

"Wow, Granville is older than I thought," Ari hummed, "I thought she was in her late twenties, mid thirties at max."  
"Between you and me I think Sally learned a thing or two about looking young from her then," Hiro whispered to Ari.  
"Speaking of Sally.." Ari looked up to Wendy, "you said you had a friend at SFIT who had amnesia once, and you said she was doing better, is that friend Sally?"  
Wendy chuckled, "how did you guess?"

Hiro's eyes widened, "how many more plot twists am I going to hear today?"  
"How did Sally lose her memories?" Ari questioned, perhaps it was connected to her memory loss? No, just a coincidence, really weird though.  
"Hmm," Wendy frowned, "she had amnesia for awhile before I met her, so I'm not sure. Though her intellect was just as sharp, it was just her memories that weren't. Sally told me once she and another friend tried forcing the memories back but that ended up causing some of her memories to be lost forever, and it made her amnesia longer, so just let yourself remember naturally."

"I will," Ari promised, nodding her head, "was Sally a good friend?"  
"She was the eccentric one of the group," Wendy chuckled, "me, Trevor, her, and the youngest genius at the time Bobby. We had a lot of fun here at this school, sometimes it hurts to look back at the past, but I try to remember the good instead of the bad."  
"Like Trengrove stealing your work?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
"That wasn't the worst thing that happened, but it can be counted."

They waved Wendy goodbye and Hiro started looking through the school archives. He found a yearbook from twenty years ago and saw Granville in one of the photos, next to a student with long black hair and cold blue eyes with a red scarf.  
"Why didn't she tell us.." Hiro mumbled under his breath.  
"Hmm, maybe so nosy students like you wouldn't ask questions," Ari teased, Hiro chuckled.

"You're always lightening my mood Ari," he smiled, "I um..that reminds me, I have something to tell you, something I've thought about for awhile."  
"Hmm?" Ari stared at him puzzled.  
"We're good friends, I know, but I think of you in a more familial bond," Hiro told her, "I kind of think of you as a younger sister of some sorts..Mikan mentioned I was close to you as I was close to Tadashi once, and after seeing some of the kids at Wendy's workshop, I figured it out." He then saw her reaction, "Ari?" he gestured to the tears on her face.  
"Um.." she wiped them away, "I don't know why I'm doing that but.." Ari pulled him into a hug, "I think of you as the older brother I never had! But I didn't want to say anything because I don't want to feel as if I'm replacing _your_ older brother."  
"Hey it's okay Ari," Hiro hugged her back, "I'll always remember Tadashi, but he's not you, and you don't have to act like him for my sake. I think of you as my sister because you're Ari, you're smart, funny, and you see the good in people. And also have a really bad taste in crushes."  
"Now you bring that up," Ari blushed, "will you ever let that go?"  
"Hmm, maybe."  
"Hiro!"

They both giggled, feeling a weight lifted off of their chests at the realization of their strong bond. While many shocking things happened today, the best of all was the knowledge they were both close as siblings. And they would continue to see each other as such until the end of their days, as nothing or nobody was going to break their bond anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Show of hands who expected that ending.


	33. Chapter 32: (Kentucky Kaiju) Powerless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Globby plants some doubt in Hiro

"Here is your latte sir," Ari handed another customer at the Lucky Cat Cafe his coffee.  
"Thank you!" The customer chirped, smiling as he accepted his drink, Ari chuckled and went back to the counter.  
"Is it almost time to close up?" she asked Cass.

"Mhmm," Cass nodded, "let's just finish up helping the rest of the customers and then we'll close shop."  
Ari nodded, she got the rest of the customers their orders and cleaned the tables when they left, Cass closed the cafe when there were no more customers left in the Lucky Cat.  
"What a day," Ari yawned, she'd been helping Cass run the cafe all day.  
Cass gave her a pat on the shoulder, "thank you so much for your help Ari, I know you should spend more time doing kid stuff. But it's always nice to have a helping hand in the cafe sometimes."  
"You're welcome…" _Now or never Ari.._ "..Aunt Cass.." Ari tensed up and waited for the reaction.

There was silence, Ari looked up to see Cass was sweeping up the cafe, "wait!" she turned around. "You're not going to react?"  
"To…?" Cass raised an eyebrow.  
"Me calling you 'Aunt Cass?', c'mon, isn't it a big deal?!" Ari exclaimed, "I thought you were going to yell at me for calling you aunt!"  
She got a chuckle in response, "oh Ari..all of Hiro's friends call me 'Aunt Cass', you're family now so you're allowed to call me aunt anytime-oh!" Ari ran up to Cass and gave her a tight hug, the woman smiled and hugged her back.

"Well um.." Ari lets go of the hug, "I'm gonna go upstairs," she yawned. "I'm really tired."  
"Oh that's fine," Cass tells her, "goodnight Ari!"  
"Goodnight Aunt Cass!" Ari waved, she walked up the stairs, feeling another weight lifted off of her chest. _Hiro and Aunt Cass really do feel like my family,_ Ari smiled as she walked, however as she went past the living room she glanced at a framed photo of Tadashi Hamada. Ari sighed and walked up to it, her hands touching the edges.

"I don't want to replace you," she told the painting, "I can tell both of them miss you a lot, and I want to try to help them in any way. Just like how Hiro said you wanted to help people." Ari huffed, _now I'm just stressing myself out, I feel grief for someone I never met, but I still feel his presence in many ways.._ Ari walked upstairs and sat on her bed, "I hope Hiro comes home soon from his Kentucky Kaiju movie watching with his friends." Hiro and the others went to see a movie in theaters, she opted not to go due to wanting to help Cass run the cafe a little.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it, "uhg," Ari grumbled as it was a news report about the glob monster supervillain Globby. "He's robbing a bank! I hope Big Hero 6 will stop him!"

* * *

The superheroes were flying on their way towards the scene. "There's the bank," Hiro pointed to a building.

"Well, guess we know how Globby got in," Wasabi commented as the roof of the bank had a giant hole in it. Baymax flew in from the hole in the roof, Fred landed on the floor, angry that his movie watching time was ruined by the villain's break-in.  
"Alright Globby! Show yourself!" Fred exclaimed, "I've got a movie to watch, for the seventh time!" He entered the open vault door and glanced left and right, "wait guys, he's not here."  
"Nope!" They all turned around, and saw a large wall of purple globs behind them, "I'm over here!"  
"So, Globby's gotten scarier," Wasabi pulled out his red corduroy cloth and started wiping his face with it in order to comfort his fear.

"You can't just break into a bank!" Hiro exclaimed.  
"I just did!" Globby rocketed himself to the ground, scattering the team, he then went for Hiro and Baymax flying in the air.

" _I will protect you,_ " Baymax told Hiro as the glob monster grabbed them both.  
"Aah!" Hiro yelped.

"Now let's see how you do without Big Red," Hiro was thrown onto the ground as Baymax was thrown into the vault, crashing into Fred. Globby locked the vault door shut.

"Baymax!" Hiro exclaimed, running up to the door, but Globby stood in front of the door. He started to shapeshift into a four-legged creature with two sharp horns, he now resembled the form of a bull.

"Stay here," Gogo told Hiro, she skated towards Globby and threw a disk at him. Globby deflected, leaping behind her and knocking her over. The glob monster laughed as Gogo hit the vault door, then turned his attention to Hiro who yelped in fear as Globby started charging towards him.

"Hold on Hiro!" Honey Lemon tossed a chem ball at Globby, he reformed into his humanoid form and caught the ball with his hand.  
"Really?" the teal chemicals started moving through his body, "I'm made of this stuff you idiot!" The chemicals reformed in his other hand into the shape of a spear, which he fired at Hiro. He yelped and blocked his face with his hands. Honey Lemon tossed another chem ball at her friend which formed into a pink bubble that absorbed the spear's attack. The tip of the spear hit Hiro's visor, which started to crack.  
"Choose your next move very carefully!" Wasabi stood in front of Hiro, his plasma blades activated and prepared to defend him. At that moment Baymax punched the vault door open, Fred was jumping for joy at being freed. The robot flew out and attempted to grab Globby, who leapt on top of the roof.

"It's a good thing you've got friends with firepower kid!" Globby told Hiro, "'cause you're useless without 'em!" He laughed as he swung away, Hiro staring up at the roof with anger.

"Mmm!" Hiro yanked a chunk of the spear that was inside the chem bubble, but it started to make the bubble roll away from the group.

" _Hiro_ ," Baymax chased after him, the others staring as he rolled away.

* * *

Globby had swung back to Obake's lair, his boss was staring at the large computer screens when he reformed on the ground. "I did what you asked, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't get it."  
"Well of course not, it's beyond you." Obake brought up a picture of "Hero Hiro" on screen, "you planted doubt."  
"I did?" Globby smirked, "yeah I did!"  
"Our doubts are traitors," Obake explained, "and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."  
"Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinkin' too," Globby nodded, he actually wasn't thinking that but was trying to look smart in front of his boss.

Obake walked back to the screen, "let's see what the boy genius does now. Wracked with doubt." The left side of his face glowed a violet hue in the green lighted room.

* * *

Back at his garage, Hiro tossed his gauntlets and helmet onto his desk, and slumped down in his chair. "Ow.." He placed a hand on his wounded shoulder.

" _I was alerted to your_ -"  
"Pain," Hiro rubbed his shoulder, "yeah, plenty of that." His mind kept thinking about what Globby said.

_It's a good thing you've got friends with firepower kid!  
_ ' _Cause you're useless without 'em!_

Was he right? He kept thinking back to moments when he was in his superhero gear, thinking of the times when he couldn't do anything his friend's did all the fighting.

" _A cold compress can help,_ " Baymax's hand turned blue as he iced Hiro's shoulder, who batted the arm away.

"Heh, help? That's all I've been getting!" Hiro exclaimed, "I don't want anymore help!"  
Baymax blinked at him, " _would you like me to deactivate now?_ "

Hiro stared back, feeling guilty for his outburst, he sighed. "Sorry Baymax, I-I just hate feeling weak and useless all the time."  
" _For a fourteen-year-old boy, your strength is statistically average._ "

"That's the problem!" Hiro held his hands up, "a-a superhero shouldn't be average, everyone else has a superpower. I need my superpower." He drummed his fingers on the desk, he shouldn't pick any superpower that his friends use, what would be good for him? Electricity powers? No, too dangerous, and High Voltage would sue for copyright if they ever broke out of jail. Earth powers? Nah, he didn't want to recreate the Great Catastrophe anytime soon. Wind powers? Now he was scraping the bottom of the barrel, who could even control the wind outside of science fiction?

"I'm thinking super strength!" Hiro realized it would be the perfect superpower for knocking down large foes and be able to help citizens if there was another runaway trolley.  
" _A protein-rich diet, coupled with exercise, can increase muscle mass._ " Baymax showed a few pictures on his screen to show his point, Hiro stared at the screen. That was correct, but it would take too long.  
"I've got a better idea," Hiro went and got his toolbox and blueprints. Baymax watched as he scooted around the garage working, after a while of work Hiro watched as the machine in the garage printed a long sleeved shirt that had purple lined circuitry all over. He stared at his work with pride, he'd use it the next time there was another baddie attacking and they'd get the surprise of their life.

* * *

_Knock knock knock!_

"Hiro? You in there?" He whipped his head around at Ari's voice, "I got something for you, can I come in?"  
"In a minute!" Hiro rushed to hide the shirt and all of his superhero gear into boxes and shoving them into corner's she couldn't reach, "okay now come in!"  
Ari opened the garage door, "you've been here for like two hours, so I got you a snack."  
"That's great Ari," Hiro smiled, "what did you get me?"  
"Catch," she tossed a bag and Hiro managed to catch it with both of his hands, it was a bag of gummy bears. "Aunt Cass told me that these were your favorite kind of snacks, so I got you some, and it's a large bag so don't eat all of it at once or else you'll get a tummy ache."  
"Thank you," he placed the bag on his desk.

"Anything for the best big brother ever!" She beamed, "you seemed kind of down when you got back so I thought a treat would cheer you up!"

Hiro could met from her kindness at that moment, "Ari, can I ask you a question?"  
"You can," she nodded.  
"Do you ever feel..powerless?" Hiro slumped into his chair, "like you can't do anything?"  
"All the time.." He looked up at her in surprise.  
"Why?"  
"Well, it's just..When I see you and your friends sad about…things..I wish I could help, but I don't want to probe any of you for information so I'm just stuck in the dark." Hiro didn't have to be a mind reader to know what she was talking about, a part of him wanted to tell her the truth but feared compromising his secret identity and putting her at serious risk.

"It's not something I want to talk about," Hiro told her, "but just you being there for me and my friends is enough help..I think you're pretty strong Ari, for keeping positive after all you're going through."  
"Really?" Ari perked up, her blue eyes shining with happiness.  
"Yeah, you keep your positive attitude and kindness despite being stuck in a cell for days, and you see the good in others where I can't," Hiro explained.

"Well, I guess that's just me," Ari hummed, "I guess that's what makes me..Ari, huh, having ten o' clock conversations is a real eye opener huh?"  
Hiro chuckled, and wrapped her into a hug, "yes, yes it does."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: I crave pizza

Gogo: Why

Mikan Ferns: Anything but noodle burgers, please no

Sara Ferns: Are you okay?

Mikan Ferns: My little brother won't shut up about noodle burgers I'm going to slam my head into a wall

Hiro Hamada: That will only cause injury

Mikan Ferns: Ok Baymax

Hiro Hamada: : (

TheLittleMermaid: Is David that crazy for a noodle burger?

Mikan Ferns: Umm..okay so long story give me a sec

Sara Ferns: "This I wanna hear" David and I

TheLittleMermaid: Now I'm hungry, can we get regular burgers Hiro?

Hiro Hamada: Sure Ari,

TheLittleMermaid: : D

Mikan Ferns: Okay so my dad adopted some new kid who I already love as my little brother but he is a noodle burger maniac

Sara Ferns: I wanna meet him!  
Mikan Ferns: One day you might, we gotta let him adjust first

TheLittleMermaid: Mikan ur dad is so nice!  
Mikan Ferns: Yeah he is

* * *

Early in the morning, at the docks owned by the Frederickson family. Fred and Heathcliff were waiting outside watching a boat load cargo onto the docks. Fred was pacing around in circles.  
"The waiting is killing me!" Fred exclaimed in a dramatic manner.

"If I may ask Master Frederick," Heathcliff spoke up, "what are we waiting for?"  
"Only the most awesome thing in the history of awesome things!"  
"A snow cone machine?"

"No, but I like that answer," Fred placed an arm around Heathcliff's shoulder. "I bought the actual Kentucky Kaiju animatronic from the movie! And it's being delivered today!" He shakes Heathcliff's shoulders, "uh, Heathcliff, that's your cue."  
"Oh right," he clears his throat, "awesome."  
"Okay you can definitely do better than-" a large crate starts lowering to the ground, "wait wait!" Fred runs up to it, "here is! Come to me! Come to my hands! Just right here in my hands!" Fred walks up to the crate and opens it, unleashing a flood of packing peanuts.

"What? This can't be right. No. No. No!" Fred picked up the kaiju animatronic.

"Is that not a Kentucky Kaiju?" Heathcliff questioned.

"Well yeah it is, but I thought it was going to be bigger, like way bigger," he held the small sized animatronic in his hands, "like as big as that giant crane bigger." Fred laid down on the packing peanuts and looked up at the crane lowering crates to the ground, "hmm, wait a second." He held up the Kentucky Kaiju up to the crane. "Heathcliff, I technically own everything here, right?"

* * *

_Pow!_

Bricks shattered and broke into pieces as Hiro punched the wall, "ha! Wait till the guys see this!" He was wearing his superhero gloves and helm, and also the shirt with purple lined circuitry.

" _I fail to see how punching concrete makes you a better superhero,_ " Baymax tilted his head.

"I won't be punching concrete, I'll be-" the helm's comm buzzed and he clicked it, "hold on, hey Gogo."

"Noodle Burger Boy's back," Gogo told him on the other line, "sending the location now."  
The map appeared on his visor and a red dot appeared on screen, "got it, Baymax and I will meet you guys there." He turned off the comm, then turned to the robot. "Let's do this," he fists bumps Baymax but due to his super strength he knocks the robot into the wall.

"Sorry Baymax!"

" _Ba-la-la-la-la_."

* * *

Right downtown, NBB was rampaging. Equipped with a flying, four armed mech suit, he was throwing cars at citizens. One car almost hit a person but Wasabi sliced it in half with his plasma blades.  
"Go! Get to safety!" He told the citizen, who nodded and ran in the other direction.  
"Guys we have a problem," Honey Lemon told them.

"Uh yeah Honey Lemon, we can see Noodle Burger Boy right there," Fred shrugged, gesturing to the robot.  
"No! I mean look!" Honey Lemon pointed to one of the mech suit's arms, where a snowy-haired girl was in it's grip.  
"He's got Mikan!"

Gogo tossed a disk at the arm holding her, "let her go!" NBB crushed the disk with one another arm.

" _Golly, no can do!_ " the robot giggled, " _I've got a special order to fill!_ " The arm holding Mikan tightened.

She screamed in pain, "Big Hero 6! Help!" Under her breath she muttered, "jeez do you have to do a death grip? I need air to breathe buddy."  
" _Sorry Mika, gotta make it look for realsies,_ " NBB whispered to her, he then picked up a car and chucked it at the superheroes who jumped back. " _Welcome to drive-thru!_ "

The superheroes jumped to the side of the streets as the car was thrown downhill.

"Is it just me, or are all the supervillains getting stronger lately?" Wasabi brushed the side of his face with the red corduroy to comfort himself.

At that moment Baymax and Hiro had arrived, a laser fired at them and Hiro leapt to the other side of the road. "Maybe not just the villains," Hiro smirked at his friends, and started running towards NBB.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wasabi stared at his friend as he ran towards the rampaging robot.

"Baymax, you're not going to let him go over there alone, are you?" Honey Lemon asked Baymax.

" _I have been instructed to let Hiro, 'do his thing,'"_ the robot replied.

" _Howdy and hello!_ " NBB fired lasers at Hiro, who dodged with ease, " _I sure am glad you could join us!_ "  
"I'm not," Mikan muttered under her breath, "this better be worth all the scones for this…"

NBB tossed another car at Hiro, he caught it with one hand, "wouldn't miss it.." Hiro smirked.

"Whaaat?" Wasabi's jaw dropped.

" _That is Hiro's thing,_ " Baymax pointed out.

Gogo frowned and turned to the others, "I thought 'boy genius' was his thing."

"Woah…" Mikan had wide green eyes, "someone took a page out of Hercule's book."

Hiro lifted the car up and tossed it back at NBB, who caught it with two of his mech suit's arms. " _Gee whiz mister, how did you do that?_ " He snapped the car in half, dropped it, and fired lasers at the purple-armored superhero.

Hiro rolled over, picking up a sewer grate and using it as a shield, "the same way I'm going to do this." He tossed it like a frisbee at one of the mech suit's arms, it impaling the claw, Mikan stared at it with shock.  
"Watch where you're aiming! Damsel in distress here!"  
"Whoops!" Hiro shrugged, "I think I broke it!"  
Hiro ran to the mech suit, breaking the arm that had Mikan in it's grip, she rolled to the ground and bolted towards the other superheroes. He grabbed the suit's cockpit and looked NBB in the eyes, "hello what's the matter? Having trouble predicting what I'm gonna do?"

" _You are really starting to shred my lettuce!_ " Hiro jumped on top of the robot, two of the arms tried grabbing him but he pulled them off, and landed back onto the ground, kicking the mech suit across the street. NBB managed to lift himself up and fly with the remains of his broken mech suit, Hiro watched him go with pride at single-handedly taking him down.

"Howdy and goodbye!" Hiro dropped the two mech suit's arms to the ground.

"Woah!" Fred exclaiming, jumping up and down, "that was awesome!"  
"Tell me about it," Mikan chuckled, she walked up to him, "thanks for saving me Big Hero 6."  
"You are welcome Mmmmm citizen," Hiro put on his superhero voice, "are you alright? Do you need us to drop you home?"  
Mikan shook her head in rapid motions, "nahhhh, I'm good, but that was pretty cool, what's your secret?"  
"Ummm," Hiro bolted to his team, "gotta go! More superhero stuff! Get home safely!" He jumped on Baymax and flew off, the team looking up and then following suit. Mikan just chuckled as they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to post bc it's been so hectic, my sense of time has vanished.


	34. Chapter 33: (Kentucky Kaiju) Nano-Dex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro's new power gives him problems

"This is nano-dex, it's a smart fabric that can contract to enhance natural muscle movement," Hiro flexed his arm, he was in the garage, explaining his new invention to his friends. They were rather impressed as they all saw him take down NBB without a sweat.

"Nice."  
"Impressive."  
"So great Hiro!"  
"It's just like Human Fist!" Fred exclaimed, "by day, he's just a big hand but at night, the glove goes on!"

"Yep," Hiro nodded, "now you guys won't have to have my back, I'll have my own back."  
" _How can you have your own back?_ " Baymax questioned, he turned his head to look at his back, " _oh..metaphor._ "

"You're gonna be careful with the nano-dex, right Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked him.

"Of course I will!" he replied, "I have my own power now, it works and it's awesome, what could ever go wrong?"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: Ok so someone filmed NBB attacking downtown and I saw that Mikan was taken hostage, you alright?

TheLittleMermaid: OMG WHAT

Mikan Ferns: Pfft I'm fiiine, I already got so many concerned comments from everyone at school lol

Sara Ferns: It was scary! I should hire Big Hero 6 to make sure that robot never touches you again!

Sara Ferns: "We should make a bodyguard robot for Mika" -David

Mikan Ferns: Guys no I'm fine

Gogo: What did you do to get NBB to kidnap you

Mikan Ferns: Uhhhhhhhhh...idk?

Wasabi: What do you mean "idk"

TheLittleMermaid: :/

Mikan Ferns: Look I'm not a mind reader! Idk what that robot kidnapped me! I'm just glad nobody got hurt

* * *

Next day in the Lucky Cat Cafe, as he was about to leave for school he saw his aunt struggling to open a pickle jar. "Morning, Aunt Cass," he greeted her, stopping beside her to stare at her having a hard time opening the jar.

"Morning Hiro," she greeted back, "come on you…" Hiro held out a hand, Cass understood the gesture and handed the jar over, "ahh give it a shot but I don't think-" He opened up the jar with ease. "Woah, someone's been drinking his milk. Thanks Hiro."  
"You're welcome," Hiro smiled, walking out of the door.

On his way to school, he had stopped to help a few folks along his way. But it ended up making him late, he sprinted through the hallways to Granville's class, and ripped the door off its hinges.

The entire class stopped and stared at him, "Mr. Hamada!" Granville exclaimed, glaring at him.

He gave an awkward smile and chucked the door away, which hit Fred, "ow! Who is throwing doors?!"  
"Uh, Professor Granville, hey." Hiro gave a nervous wave. His professor was unamused with him.

"Sit. Down."  
"Good idea, I'll just uh.." he started walking to his seat, but tripped and knocked into a chair. Which went flying straight at Karmi, who yelped and ducked out of the way before it could hit her. "My bad Karmi."  
"What is your problem?!" She snapped at him.

"Nothing, it uh..it slipped,"

"That was not a slip, that was a throw," Karmi glared, "back me up here, people," she gestured for her classmates to speak up.  
"Definitely a throw,"  
"He threw it so hard."  
"Sounded like one to me," even David chipped in.

"See?"  
"Alright alright everyone that's enough!" Granville shushed the class, "Karmi, are you alright?"  
"Yes Professor Granville," Karmi sat back down, "I'll be fine."  
"Good, Mr. Hamada," Hiro turned to face his professor, "are you done destroying school property?"  
"I hope so," Hiro sighed.

* * *

The rest of his day didn't go any better, he had to be careful with his hands or else he'd break another chair, or glass...He was rather lucky nobody got hurt from that, but he did get an earful. As he bought his lunch and went to a table, he had to drag the chair with his leg, he managed to sit down. However as he grabbed a bottle of ketchup and was going to pour some on the side, it broke and the condiment spilled everywhere, he groaned with frustration.

"Hiro!" He turned around as Karmi was walking near his table and got ketchup all over the side of her face and sweater, "you totally did that on purpose!"  
"No it-it was an accident."  
"An accident? This doesn't look like an accident to me."  
"Definitely on purpose," a student walking past the table commented.  
"No one asked you!" Hiro yelled back, he attempted to grab a napkin to wipe the ketchup off, "here-aaah!" The entire table fell to pieces.

"Uhg! What is going on with you?" Karmi demanded.

"Nothing!" He stood up, "that table must've been uh, cracked. Because that's the only logical explanation it would break like that, right? Yeah it was-it was cracked."  
"You are cracked!" And Karmi stomped off, Hiro rubbed his sleeves in guilt, seeing the broken table and the school's vacuum robots attempting to clean up the mess he made.

At the robotics lab, Hiro tosses his jacket away in frustration and tries pulling off the nano-dex he was wearing underneath.

"Uh, Hiro what are you doing?" Wasabi asked him.

"Nano-dex, won't come off," Hiro replied.

Wasabi frowned, "here, let me try." he walked up to Hiro and attempted to pull the nano-dex off, "yep. It's really stuck there."  
"Guys, weirdest thing," Fred walks up to them, holding an ice pack to his head. "I'm just standing in the hallway, and outta nowhere I get hit by a flying-" Wasabi let go of Hiro, who bumps into Fred and sends him flying across the room. "Ow! Okay this is not my day!"

Hiro winces, "sorry Fred," he rubs his shoulder.

"Seems like this might be a problem," Wasabi pointed out.

"What's the problem?" David walked into the lab, "I heard a crash, is everything okay?"  
"I'm not," Fred whined, picking himself up.

Hiro flinched, he was lucky David couldn't see the nano-dex but he still had to come up with an excuse, "it's-it's just uh…."  
"Malfunctioning project!" Wasabi answered, "Hiro's working on a personal project and it's not going well."  
"Yikes," David hummed, "hope it's not a robot otherwise it would turn evil and attack us," he chuckled. "That was a sour joke.."  
"Kind of was," Hiro shrugged, "how's Mikan doing?"  
"Surprisingly she's acting like nothing happened," there was a dark gaze in his topaz eyes, "kind of disturbing..How she brushed getting kidnapped by a crazy robot like it was nothing."  
"Well that's Mikan for you," Wasabi hummed, "it's almost nothing seems to phase her, at all."  
"You might be right,"

* * *

Meanwhile..Obake was looking at the footage NBB recorded of his encounter with Big Hero 6.  
"Uch," he was rather disappointed in Hiro's choice of a superpower, "super strength, such an obvious choice." Behind him was Globby, NBB, and Mikan, the latter enjoying a box of blueberry scones for her participation in the scheme.  
"Yeah I woulda gone with laser eyes!" Globby was hanging upside down, he pointed to his artificial green eyes.

" _Like these?_ " NBB fired a laser at him, he yelled as it went through him, Mikan ducked to the floor to avoid getting hit.

"Watch where you aim little bro!" Mikan glared at him.

"Show off," Globby grumbled.

" _I bet you'd like a sticker,_ " NBB pulled out one of his stickers.

Obake placed his hands to his head, "stop talking." He zoomed in on Hiro's arms, the usual red stripe sleeves replaced with the nano-dex, the computer scanned it.

"Nano-compressed circuitry. Impressive, pity he rushed it."  
"Wow, this leader guy has brains for sure," Mikan took a bite out of her scone, "lack of common sense, but he's smart."

Globby shot her a weird look, "you haven't asked your dad his identity yet? I mean I know at this point and NBB was the one who figured it out!"  
"Not interested," Mikan shrugged, "I respect their privacy, besides I'm not the one who's fighting them."  
" _Golly big sis! You sure are strange!_ " NBB told her.

"I get that a lot," she kneeled to his level, "next time you decide to pull a damsel in distress, don't have me do it next time okay? It's hard to fake shock," NBB nodded.

"Mikan." She looked up to her dad, "you have been keeping an eye on Ariel correct?"  
"Mhhm," Mikan nodded, "she and Hiro finally stopped acting weird and have acknowledged their sibling-like bond, though I'm starting to think you lied when you said there was something...special about Ari."

Obake raised an eyebrow at that information, it would come in handy for later. "I already told you, she is not useful to my plans, which is why I haven't made any plans to retrieve her."  
"But what's so special about her? That some other bad guy tried grabbing her..then some weirdo in white tried rescuing her..then you had Yama grab her and hold her in a cell for awhile...Then she woke up with amnesia...makes no sense to me."

"That..my dear Mikan, is something in the eye of the beholder, she may seem special to one, but to me..She is merely a child."  
"Huh, you been working on your Shakespeare Pops?"  
"...Go to your room Mikan."

* * *

_Crash!_

Mochi yowled and leapt off the counter, Ari stared in shock. She was nose deep into a book she was reading so she didn't know what scared the cat.

"I'm gonna switch you to decaf, Mochi." Cass commented as she walked past the cat, holding a pot of coffee in her hands.

"Come on Baymax," Hiro stood up, "let's go to Fred's house. Maybe he knows some...comic book way out of this."

" _That seems unlikely,_ " Baymax told him.

"Desperate times."  
"Want me to come with you?" Ari offered, he shook his head.

"No, it's a uh..school thing," he told her, "but thank you."  
"Alright," she nodded, "hope your thing clears up soon!" Ari chuckled.

Hiro chuckled as well, "I hope so too." he and Baymax left the cafe. Unknown to him, a pair of cold blue eyes watched him leave.

"More coffee?" Cass walked up to him.

"You're too kind," Obake smirked.

"How do you like that blueberry scone?" Cass questioned as she refilled his cup.  
"Delightfully..fruitful," he took a bite.

"Well, they're in season."  
"Yummy."

Ari's curiosity was piqued, she walked up to him after Cass left, "hey mister!"

Obake raised an eyebrow, "hello."  
"You like that scone huh? I have a friend named Mikan who once told me her dad got her into liking blueberry scones, do you know her by any chance?" Ari questioned.

"Is that what dear Mikan says about me to her friends? Well to be fair it was a treat I've loved since my youth."  
"I knew it!" Ari exclaimed, "You must be her dad!"

Obake gave a small smirk, she was more clever than she let on, "guilty as charged. You must be the Ariel she talks about sometimes."  
"Mhmm," she nodded, "is Mikan okay? She got kidnapped by a crazy robot the other day."

"She's doing fine," Obake told her.  
"That's good to hear! Mikan is a good friend to my brother and I! So it's nice that she's doing alright after all."  
"Your brother?" Obake raised an eyebrow, "perhaps that boy who left a while ago? You don't seem to share blood, do you not?"  
"Nope," she shook her head, "is that a problem?"  
"Not at all, Mikan is proof of that, is she not? I may be her father, but she does not carry my blood."  
"She does carry your love of scones," Ari pointed out.

"Rather sharp eyes you have," Obake noted, the girl may not be vital to his plans, but she was giving him vital information. Her sibling bond with Hiro may come in handy in the future..

* * *

_Meanwhile with Hiro himself…_

"Yeah, I don't know what to tell you." Hiro explained his problem to Fred but he didn't have a comic book answer. "Sorry my friend, this is unprecedented in the comic book multiverse. And I'm pretty familiar."

Hiro groaned and buried his face into his hands, "uhg, unbelievable."

A phone rang, Fred picked it up, the caller was Heathcliff. "I need to take this," he answered the phone. "Is it ready? Is it ready? Is it ready? It's ready!" Fred jumped up, "ow! Still in pain, but it's ready! I'm on my way!" He ended the call, "I need to excuse myself, just for a bit. Stay as long as you want but I gotta go bye!" Fred ran out of the room, Hiro watched his friend puzzled.

The screen behind him flickered to life, " _great news Fred!_ " Hiro turned around to see Mr. Frederickson on screen, in a pyramid ruin. " _Wait a minute, you're not my son. Or my wife!_ " Behind him a mummy tried attacking but he batted it back.

"Uh..no, I'm Hiro, Mr. Frederickson."  
He adjusted his glasses and stared at Hiro, "I guess I should go." Hiro prepared to exit the room.

" _Hold it! Hold it right there,_ " he stopped in his tracks. " _What's that you've got up your sleeve?_ "  
"This?" Hiro gestured to the black shirt with purple lined circuitry, "I uh..call it nano-dex, heh, it's a smart fabric that can contract to-"  
" _Enhance natural muscle movement, genius!_ "  
"Well, not quite genius, I can't get it off," Hiro sighed.

" _Classic! I tried to give myself super strength when I was a rookie hero too!_ " Mr. Frederickson told him.

"You did?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

" _Yep, until I realized that you don't have to be strong, you just have to find your true strength._ "  
 _What did that mean?_ "I'm not sure I follow."

" _Well in my case, my true strength was my can-do attitude, and having truckloads of cash didn't hurt either._ "

"Right, huh," Hiro got the gist of the meaning. "I guess I don't know what my true strength is."  
" _I'm sure you'll figure it out,_ " Mr. Frederickson told him. " _But you know, right now, you should leave. I didn't recognize you at first, so I alerted security. They'll be here any minute._ " The faint sound of sirens was heard, and Hiro decided to leave asap.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Rachel Rosemary:

Honey Lemon: omg Katie is adorable!  
Gogo: Is she reenacting the smug cat meme?  
Rachel Rosemary: Yes

Gogo: Oh jeez

Hiro Hamada: Hey Rachel I have a weird question for you

Rachel Rosemary: Sure

Hiro Hamada: What would you say is your true strength?

TheLittleMermaid: it fits the bill of weird question

Hiro Hamada: Hey! I was just thinking of something I heard!

Rachel Rosemary: My compassion, though many say that kindness is a weakness and not a strength

Fredilicous24: Lies! Compassion is a strength few have!

Rachel Rosemary: Oh, thank you.

* * *

Later that night, Hiro and the gang were by the docks owned by Fred's family.  
"Why did Fred want us to meet him here?" Gogo questioned.

"I don't know, but he was acting strange earlier," Hiro pointed out, Gogo glanced at him. "Strange than his usual strange," he specified.

"I wonder where he is?" Honey Lemon looked around.

_Splash_

"What is that?" Wasabi held his arms out as the dock shook. Behind them the shakes grew louder as a bright green spike emerged from the water, followed by a giant teal colored, three-eyed reptilian monster that roared.

"Uh, are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?"  
"You mean the giant lizard that just came out of the water?" Hiro and the others had wide eyes.

"Oh good, you see it too."  
The lizard bent down to their level, and the eyes opened revealing-

"Ta-dah!"  
"Freddie?" Honey Lemon gawked, it was Fred himself, wearing his superhero gear.  
"Oh, what did you do?" Wasabi also gawked.

"Oh I paid to have a one-to-one scale replica of the Kentucky Kaiju made out of a giant crane, obviously." Fred gestured to the kaiju.

"Oh yeah, sure, of course." Wasabi nodded, "because that makes sense!"  
"Look at it! Isn't it glorious?"  
"It is pretty cool," Hiro pointed out.

"Worth every penny."  
"Okay, what do you plan on doing with a giant lizard?" Gogo questioned.

"Well I haven't really thought that through," Fred admitted. "But I mean, there's plenty I'm sure I-" lasers fired at him, "ow!" Fred looked to see who shot lasers at him.

" _Howdy and hello!_ " It was NBB, who fired more lasers.

Fred ducked, "woah! This is just like when the Human Fist got laser eyes! It was kind of a stretch looking back. You know, 'cause he was a hand, and hands don't have eyes."  
" _Jeepers! You sure do talk a lot!_ " NBB leapt and kicked Fred out of the kaiju.

" _I have got you,_ " Baymax caught his fall.

" _Thanks for the swell gizmo mister!_ " NBB closed the Kentucky Kaiju's eyes, and stepped out of the water and stomped past them.  
"Oh this is not good," Wasabi commented.  
"He's heading towards the city!" Honey Lemon exclaimed, "we've got to stop him!"  
"I'm calling Skymax," Hiro pulled his phone from his pocket but due to his strength his finger went through the phone, he sighed.

"Yeah, I'll call," Gogo got her phone out and called Skymax. The phone beeped as five colored Skymaxes landed beside them, each with their respective colors and had their gear.

Hiro reached a hand to grab his gear but hesitated, what if he broke something?  
"Can..someone help me get dressed?"

* * *

In the city of San Fransokyo there was chaos as the Kentucky Kaiju stomped through the city. People got out of their cars and made a run for it, screaming. A few brave folks recorded the monster with their phones, as they ran. NBB as he was controlling the kaiju was singing his theme song.

_I'd do anything for a Noodle Burger!_

' _Cause Noodle Burgers are really swell, yeah!_

His hand turned into a drill and tore off the main control panel's frame.

_If I could I'd marry Noodle Burger!_

' _Cause Noodle Burger's ring my bell!_

_Ding dong!_

He pulled out a device from his head, and placed it onto the control panel. As it activated, a monster symbol appeared on the screen and every button left on the panel turned red, including the Kentucky Kaiju's eyes.

It began to roar fire but Baymax punched it in the face, the whole team was clinging onto the robot as it circled the kaiju who roared fire at them.

"Did you have to do the fire?!" Wasabi exclaimed to Fred.  
"I was going for accuracy!" Fred leapt and roared his own fire at the kaiju who was unaffected, "of course now I regret that decision," he braced himself as the Kentucky Kaiju roared fire at him and he landed on a car. Knocking him to the ground, Baymax flew by the ground and dropped Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon.

"Fred, you alive?" the former asked him.

"Uh-huh, yeah. I think I should just lay here for awhile."

"Baymax rocket fist!" As his friends battled the kaiju on ground, he was fighting in the air, Baymax fired a rocket first at the kaiju multiple times until he swallowed it whole.

" _He ate it._ " Baymax pointed out, the kaiju swung its tail at them and knocked them to the ground.

" _Oh no_ ," the kaiju stomped past them.

"Baymax?" Hiro ran to his friend and moved a boulder covering him, "Baymax you okay?"

" _My systems are not responding, I cannot move._ " Baymax told him. Hiro glanced at the moving Kentucky Kaiju, his friends behind him had run out of firepower, so it was up to him.  
"Wait here buddy."  
" _Hiro, I will not be able to have your back_."  
"Don't worry, got super strength remember?"

* * *

Hiro ran to the top of a building and used it to jump onto the kaiju's tail, NBB got the alert he was on the tail and tried shaking him off. But he used his magnet-lock gloves to stick onto the tail as swung back and forth, he used it to stick until he got to the helm of the Kentucky Kaiju and he ran into the cockpit.

"Wait, where's Noodle Burger Boy?" Hiro glanced as the robot wasn't there anymore.

" _Hoo boy!_ " NBB had exited the cockpit and was on the roof of a building. " _Looks like you have your hands full mister! Have a tasty day!_ " Hiro watched him leave, puzzled.

"Who's driving this thing?" He ran to the control panel and saw the device NBB had planted, but before he could remove it the kaiju opened its eyes and managed to shake Hiro out. As he landed on the ground his chest piece broke from the fall, revealing his nano-dex shirt. The kaiju roared and attempted to stomp on Hiro, who deflected due to his super strength. However some of the circuitry on the nano-dex started to crack under pressure, and as Hiro managed to toss the weight on him, the nano-dex broke.

"Of course, now it comes off!" Hiro grumbled, he then flinched as the Kentucky Kaiju looked down on him, a feeling of horror went down his spine as it roared at him. He then saw ahead a billboard advertising Mr. Frederickson's shipping, and his words came back to him.

_You don't have to be strong, you just have to find your true strength._ He stared at the power lines under the billboard, the rocket fist inside the cockpit, and a plan formed in his head. He stood still as the kaiju ducked down and swallowed him whole.

"No!" The others exclaimed with terror, as the Kentucky Kaiju stood up and began walking again. A rocket fist with Hiro clinging on broke from the mouth, a tooth falling to the ground as he flew past the power lines and hit the billboard. Enraged, the kaiju began stomping towards Hiro.

"Okay you win! Just please! Don't hurt me!" Hiro begged, as it began to cross over the power lines, he smirked as the electricity from the power lines began shaking the robot. "Whoops, should've told you to watch your step."  
The Kentucky Kaiju howled with pain as it began to deactivate and blow up, Hiro stopped clinging onto the rocket fist and used the nano-dex shirt to help him parachute to the ground. The hacking device fell off of the kaiju and landed next to Baymax.

* * *

As Hiro landed onto the ground, he smirked at the others, who were happy to see him already. Wasabi helped him lift Baymax up as Gogo and Honey Lemon ran up to him. "You were amazing Hiro!" The latter exclaimed.

"Seriously! You saved our butts out there!" Wasabi added.  
Gogo smirked and gave him a punch on the shoulder, "boy genius is definitely your thing." At that moment, Fred had woken up from his short nap, he crawled onto the hood of a car.

"Uhg..woah, I just had this crazy dream, I was caught by the Kentucky Kaiju, also laser eyes."

"Fred, that really did happen," Gogo told him.

He glanced up at the smoking remains of the kaiju, then back at the group. "Oh...right, wow. Guys, seriously, sorry I inadvertently created a monster that almost destroyed the city," he leapt off of the car. "But in my defence, who would've thought it could cause mayhem and destruction?"  
"Everyone Fred," Wasabi gave him a deadpan look, "everyone." The other stared at Hiro as he walked across the street to pick up the hacking device from the rubble.

" _Hiro, is something wrong?_ " Baymax asked him.

Fred leapt next to him, "what is that?"

"It's an incredibly advanced CPU," Hiro got up and showed it to the group. "This must be what switched the kaiju into battle mode."  
"Where did it come from?" Honey Lemon questioned.  
"Noodle Burger Boy must've installed it, but I doubt he could've made this."  
Gogo narrowed her eyes, "yeah..this is way beyond his robo-burger brain."

"And something else has been bothering me," Hiro stared at the CPU, "Globby. He didn't steal anything from the vault!"  
"You're right," Honey Lemon nodded, "That was weird."  
 _Now let's see how you do without Big Red!_

"He wasn't trying to get into the bank."  
 _It's a good thing you've got friends with firepower kid! 'Cause you're useless without 'em!_

"He was trying to get into my head, someone else is behind this."

"But who?" Wasabi frowned.

"That's what I need to know."

Elsewhere, Obake was watching Big Hero 6 converse and came to the realization that someone was pulling the strings. "Well, I wanted to find out how smart this boy is," behind him was Globby and NBB, the former asking what the latest scheme was for.

"I'll bite, how smart is he?" Globby raised an eyebrow.  
Obake gave a dark chuckle, "very."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still out of it so I nearly forgot to post this on time... whoops!


	35. Chapter 34: (Rivalry Weak) SFAI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rivalry Week at SFIT begins! But some of the students are acting odd

Ari was in for a surprise when she was visiting SFIT one day, she saw Sara and Mikan hanging streamers in the hallway.

"Umm…what are you doing?" Ari walked up to them.

Sara turned to her, "didn't Hiro tell you what today is?"  
"It's Hiro's first year at SFIT, he might not know," Mikan shrugged.  
"Still! You'd think Tadashi would've mentioned to him about the coolest week at school!"  
"Oh I'm sure he mentioned it, back when Hiro was a cocky teenager and ignored it."  
"Cocky teen? You sure you're not projecting?"  
"Hey!"  
"In your defence, Hiro is still a bit cocky, but at least he's toned down."  
"Toned down?"

"Little bit.."  
"Guys!" They both turned to Ari, "what's going on?"  
"Rivalry Week!" Sara and Mikan exclaimed, she raised an eyebrow.  
"Is that like some...team spirit pep rally for college students?" Ari crossed her arms.

"It's the week we battle our rivals, San Fransokyo Institute of Art, aka the snobbiest school ever!" Mikan exclaimed.  
"Yeah, our superior school SFIT crushes those inferior SFAI students," Sara chuckled. "They will rue the day they painted our dining hall a zombie clown circus last year! That was low, even for them."  
"Wha?" now Ari was even more puzzled, "I think you've been drinking too many sports drinks Sara."  
"What are you talking about?" Sara giggled, "I feel fine! Team spirit!" and she ran off to hang more streamers.  
Mikan chuckled, "okay so every year we play pranks, they paint our dining hall and we steal the Shimamoto statue that's outside on their campus. Last year back when Sara joined the school, we stole it with a flock of genetically engineered pigeons." She gestured to herself, "with a helping hand from yours truly."  
"Ooh that sounds fun," Ari smirked, "where's your brother? I don't see him hanging streamers."  
"First of all, David doesn't hang streamers," Mikan pointed out. "Second, I honestly have no idea, I checked the labs but it was just Hiro and his friends, except for Honey Lemon."  
Ari shrugged, that was strange. "Maybe they're hanging out?"

* * *

Where Honey Lemon and David were, was not a place to hang out. Honey Lemon was painting a picture of her and her friends, and David was sitting next to her listening to the sounds of the paint moving across the canvas.

"Excellent work Honey Lemon!" Next to her was an art teacher, "I truly think you're SFAI's most gifted new student."

Honey Lemon gave a nervous chuckle, "thanks.."  
"Way to be discreet," David snickered, he had only been here to keep Honey Lemon company for another one of her secret art classes. That and… They both had secrets at SFAI, he was just lucky he could tell Honey Lemon his secret, his siblings wouldn't understand if he told them.

After the class, the art teacher was escorting Honey Lemon off of campus, David had run off somewhere. "Are you sure I can't convince you to become a full-time student here?"  
"I'd love to, but I can't." Honey Lemon shook her head, "art is just a secret hobby for me. I-I mean a secret, I-I mean a hobby."

"Well hobby or not Miss Lemon, your work is going up in the Fine Arts department gallery." The art teacher told her.  
"Oh my gosh, I'm so honored!" Behind them, a tour guide was leading a group of visitors into a house.  
"And now we step into the private residence of renowned artist and SFAI founder, Lenore Shimamoto!"  
"The restoration is finished?" Honey Lemon questioned.  
"Today's the grand opening!"  
"But that's 27 days early!"  
"I know! I was so moved that I wept! Then I mixed my tears with ink and wrote a poem about my feelings," the teacher handed her the poem, read it later."  
"Okay," Honey Lemon took the poem, as she walked past campus a hooded figure bumped past the art teacher and joined the tour group.

* * *

"Remember folks, no touching and absolutely no flash photography." The tour guide told the group as they entered the house, the hooded figure removed his hood to reveal he was Obake wearing glasses. The glasses were designed to look for..something.  
"Where are you hiding?" Obake scanned the room, inspecting every object. But his search was stopped by a small boy who knocked his glasses over and crushed them. The boy looked up at him, feeling guilty, Obake just glared down with the left side of his face glowing to scare the kid off. He'll have to try again.

"And we're moving," the tour guide herded the group to the next room.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Ari greeted Hiro and the others as she entered the lab.  
"Hey Ari," Hiro waved, he gestured for her to come over, "come look at this." Ari followed, and saw that there was a small hologram model of a school campus, but it wasn't SFIT's campus.

"Is this a holographic model of your rival school's campus?" She pointed to the hologram.

"Yep," she turned around and saw Sara and Mikan were also in the lab, it was the former who spoke. "We're planning our statue grab."  
Mikan flashed a grin, "it's going to be awesome! Wasabi came up with this neat idea!"

"Thanks!" Wasabi smiled.

"Here, this is how it'll go," Hiro pressed a button on the model, which showed tiny, holographic versions of everyone sneaking onto campus. The hologram Baymax picked up the statue and they booked it.  
"Cool," Ari hummed, "I think it'll work," she chuckled seeing the hologram version of her friends jump for joy.  
"Great, so we'll hit SFAI tonight," Hiro grinned.  
"Tonight?!" They turned around to see Honey Lemon and David had entered the lab.

"You're taking the Shimamoto statue 'tonight' tonight?!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.  
"Isn't that jumping the gun?" David quipped, "It's Monday!"  
"We get them before they get us," Gogo explained.

"But do we really need to steal the statue?" Honey Lemon looked nervous for some reason, "I mean it's been done right?"  
"Well yeah, but it's tradition," Hiro pointed out, "who are we to mess with tradition."  
Sara nodded, "a fun tradition!"

Hiro turned to Baymax, "back me up here Baymax."  
The robot chipped in, " _Rivalry Week began in 1916, students used a catapult and-_ " he stops talking and Wasabi turns the hologram off when Granville walks into the lab.

"And that is why covalent bonds share electron pairs! Super interesting!" Hiro exclaimed, attempting to provide a cover. Ari pretended to look fascinated with what Hiro said.

"Let me guess, instead of studying, you're planning the statue grab," Granville pressed the hologram button. "Well it's not going to happen."  
"Aw man," Sara grumbled, she gave Honey Lemon a funny look when hearing her sigh of relief.  
"Without my approval, which now you have!" Granville told them, "tonight, art will feel the wrath of science!"  
"Yay!" Mikan cheered, "and their annoying art students too!"  
"Professor Granville," Hiro raised his hand, "can my sister go on the statue grab heist too?" Ari whipped her head around to gawk at Hiro, _he wants me on the statue grab team?_

Granville raised an eyebrow, "your sister?"  
"Ari," Hiro pointed to her, "I want to bring my sister along too, it would make the statue grab more fun."  
"Of course," Granville had a warm smile on her face, for about two seconds, then it turned back to her usual stone cold appearance. She turned to Wasabi, Mikan, and Fred, "you three. Meet me at the dining hall in one hour! You're going to help me guard it!"  
"Yessir!" Mikan saluted.  
Granville glared at her, "I-I mean ma'am."

"Good." And Granville exited the lab, Mikan and the boys stared at each other.  
"So I guess we're not going on the statue grab team," Wasabi glanced at the door.

"That's fine," Sara patted him on the shoulder, "David and I are going."  
David looked like he did _not_ want to be on the statue grab team from Ari's observation, "wait, what?!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Sara Ferns: SFAI WILL RUE TONIGHT! MUAHAHAHAHA

Rachel Rosemary: uh….

Hiro Hamada: It's Rivalry Week

Rachel Rosemary: Understandable, have a nice day

Sara Ferns: I am going to crush those art students!

Mikan Ferns: I'm stuck on guard duty : (

Rachel Rosemary: Is your brother hyped as well?

Sara Ferns: "Peachy" -David

TheLittleMermaid: I think he just wants to get some sleep

Sara Ferns: We'll be in-and-out! Easy peasy!  
Fredilicous24: And Sabbatini will rue the day!  
TheLittleMermaid: Whom?

Fredilicous24: Sabbatini the Sea Snail, mascot of SFAI and he's a terrible mascot!  
Mikan Ferns: Agreed, the person underneath that suit isn't pleasant either, real snob

Sara Ferns: "Yep" -David and I

* * *

Night had fallen over the campus, the team that was responsible for the statue grab had snuck around the outskirts of SFAI. Ari noted that David was rather jumpy, so was Honey Lemon. But she was more focused on sticking close to her brother. Hiro was on high alert as he snuck around campus.  
"We'll have to get over the walls," Hiro pointed, he turned to Baymax, "I'm gonna use you as a boost, okay?"  
" _Yes,_ " Baymax nodded. Hiro started to climb on top of the robot to get over the wall.  
"Be careful!" Ari whispered to him.  
"I'm always careful."

"Guys, we can just use the door since it's open!" They turned around to see the Honey Lemon pointing to the door, "which is how I found it! So lucky, right?" _Weird.._ Ari frowned, but she didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and went inside, the others following her.

" _This route will be easier,_ " Baymax tries to go through the door but he's too large to fit, " _I am stuck._ " Honey Lemon manages to shove him inside, " _thank you._ " She closes the door so the incoming security guard doesn't detect something is amiss.

"That was close," Sara mumbled, "good thing that door was open or we'd be busted."  
Honey Lemon gave a nervous chuckle, the door was only open because she used her SFAI ID to open it when seeing the security guard, "yeah... yay for us?"

* * *

_Meanwhile on SFIT's campus.._

"I have mixed feelings right now," Fred stated as him, Wasabi, and Mikan walked around campus, "guarding the dining hall is important, but I was lookin' forward to that heist."  
"Same," Mikan sighed, "I haven't done any heists in awhile so it would be a nice warmup.." she mumbled, both Wasabi and Fred gave her strange looks.

"What did you just say?" the latter raised an eyebrow.  
"Nothing, just grumbling."

"Well, I just have one feeling," Wasabi glanced left and right, "fear, Granville scares me."  
"Good."  
Both of the guys scream as Granville emerges from the bushes, wearing a stealth suit and accompanied by a woman wearing one as well, "fear keeps you sharp, suit up!" Her companion tosses the trio camouflage outfits, "we've got work to do."  
"Wait a second," Mikan narrowed her eyes at Granville's company, "is that you Mom?" the woman removed her goggles to reveal a familiar pair of amber eyes, she nodded.

"Why are you here Professor Ferns?" Wasabi raised a hand.

"I've always participated in Rivalry Week, since my student days," Sally smirked, "prepare yourselves children, SFAI's bunch are more unpredictable than you think." She and Granville vanished back into the bushes, leaving the trio alone.  
"Oh yes! We're gonna be camo triplets!" Fred exclaimed.  
"That's not how it works," Mikan sighed.

Wasabi was just staring at the bushes, "this is a whole new side of Granville, a very disturbing side."  
Mikan chuckled at him, "if you think that's bad...clearly you haven't known Sally long enough."

* * *

Back on SFAI's campus, the group was hiding in a corner of a building as a security guard walked past. Hiro was holding a map of the campus on a tablet, and glancing at his surroundings.

"Um, do we have to go through the Fine Arts building?" Honey Lemon questioned, clutching her chem purse, she was lucky that Sara and Ari had awful night vision so they thought she just bought a normal purse.

"This is the best route to take if we want to avoid campus security," Hiro pointed towards the map.  
"Or the trees," David lifted a finger, they all glanced at him, "what?"

Sara stared at the trees and hummed, "you know what? David and I could go the scenic route, more fun for me."  
"You're gonna get us caught," Gogo grumbled at the two, "don't-"  
"Well we can also serve as bait, godspeed my fellow students!" Sara grabbed her brother and bolted from the hiding spot, the movement in the dark alerted a security guard away from their hiding spot. But the two weren't spotted, their shadows could be seen moving as they scrawled into the bushes on campus.  
"-split up.." she rolled her eyes, "and we've already lost two of the group."  
"I'm still here," Ari spoke up, "I think I'd wanna go to the Fine Arts building, it sounds fun!"  
" _Also, you can enjoy the student art exhibits on display,_ " Baymax pointed out.

"Student...exhibits?" Honey Lemon's green eyes widened, flashing back to what the art teacher said this morning.

_"Your work is going up in the Fine Arts department gallery...Ms. Lemon."_

She gasped, Gogo turned to her. "Look if you'd rather wait here…"  
"No! I mean...I'm here to help! I love being helpful!" Baymax leaned in to scan Honey Lemon's strained smile.

" _The shift in both cadence and pitch of your speech indicate-_ "  
"How excited I am about helping!"

Hiro gave her puzzled look, "uh sure." Ari raised an eyebrow, puzzled as well at her friend's behavior.

The group sneaked into the Fine Arts department, there was a scare when Baymax was having trouble waddling up the steps and Honey Lemon had to drag him inside before the security guards spotted him. But the group managed to enter undetected, Honey Lemon was panicking as they went through the department because her artwork was everywhere! She had to do stretches to hide the pictures, even use her chem balls to cover a painting before the rest of the group walked in.

"Is it just me, or is Honey Lemon acting weird?" Ari whispered to her brother.  
"Mhmm," Hiro nodded, "I think it's just nerves."  
"If you say so…"

* * *

Back at SFIT, the adults were giving orders to the trio who were in their camo outfits. Granville paced back and forth. "You three will be guarding the north side of the dining hall," she hands each of them a whistle.  
Fred gasped, "whistles?" He takes his with glee and chuckles. "Nobody's trusted me with a whistle in years!" The moment he got his whistle was when he started blowing into it, Mikan and Wasabi covered their ears from the high pitched whistling. Granville and Sally gave him glares and he stopped, but as he tried whistling again the former yanked the whistle out of his mouth.

"No whistle for you," Sally glared, Fred just gave her a cheeky grin.

Granville then started to explain what the whistle was for, "one toot means 'I need assistance,' two toots mean 'I've apprehended an intruder,' three means 'I've been captured,' four means-"  
"How many signals are there?" Wasabi questioned.

"Twenty-two,"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to take notes," Wasabi pulls out a notebook and pencil and begins writing down but Granville leaning in causes him to yelp and drop his items.

"You won't have time to consult notes in the heat of battle!"

"Don't worry," Mikan told her, "I have a photographic memory."

Fred shook his head, "I'm pretty sure that's not what the saying is."  
"No way!"  
"Yes way!"  
"Nuh-uh!"  
"Yuh-huh!"

Wasabi felt his shirt being grabbed by Granville who was looking him in the eye, "I'm counting on you Wasabi," he felt his anxiety skyrocket at that moment.

He gulped for air as he gave his response, "got it," his voice squeaked.

* * *

Back at SFAI, the group had snuck out of the Fine Arts department, poking behind the statue as another security guard walked by. Hiro popped out of their hiding spot first, and gestured for them to follow when the coast was clear.  
"Keep watch," he told them, "we should be able to tunnel the statue out in no time." Honey Lemon and Gogo nodded, heading to the pathway to guard the area as Hiro pulled out a laser to cut the statue base.  
"You can do it Hiro," Ari cheered for her brother.  
He smiled at her verbal support, "thanks."

"So this is your first time on SFAI's campus too, right?" Honey Lemon asked Gogo as they walked around the campus keeping guard. "Because it's definitely mine."  
Gogo raised an eyebrow, "are you acting weird tonight because you don't want anyone to know you take classes here?" Honey Lemon's eyes widened, then narrowed.  
"Wait? You knew? How?"  
"You sleep talk," Gogo shrugged, "don't worry though, I'm not going to tell."  
"You're not going to judge me?" Honey Lemon questioned, Gogo shook her head.  
"No, I wouldn't judge you," she told her, "I respect you and your hobbies." Honey Lemon gave her a sheepish smile, but the moment was ruined soon enough.  
"Hey! Who's there?" A security guard had spotted them. The flashlight had caught their feet, they bolted back to the statue, where Hiro and Baymax were trying to lift it up.  
"We gotta go," Gogo told them.  
"We're not done yet!" Hiro exclaimed.

"I heard something over there!"  
"Ohh that's why," Ari realized, hearing the sound of the security guards.

"We'll finish later," Hiro pushed the robot as the group attempted to go for the bushes, but a security guard was around that corner, and the next corner.  
"Yikes! We're surrounded," Ari shivered, hiding behind Baymax.  
Honey Lemon glanced at the flashlights looming over them, "what do we do now?" Hiro looked around for any place to hide, and his eyes landed on the house in front of them.

As the security guards looked around the campus, the group hid within the house crouched under the furniture.  
"I'm hiding in Lenore Shimamoto's house. This is so exciting!" Honey Lemon squealed.

"David and Sara would've liked this," Ari giggled, "I hope they weren't caught."

Gogo shushed them, "shh! Be excited, quieter!"

* * *

"David? Daviiiid? Ohhh why did you wander on your own?" Sara mumbled, "SFAI has different foliage than our campus, you're gonna trip on something." Somehow, somewhere, she had lost her brother in the bushes, and with the security guards getting more active she was getting worried.

"Oh I hope they didn't find him...I don't think the security is nicer than the students," she growled, the school mascot and his posse were most likely going to try painting the dining hall like they did last year. She felt bad for her sister and the guys.

_Rustle rustle_

"Shh, I heard something, it might be one of the guards," that was David's voice!  
"They don't check this area much, don't be a worry wart," ...that was not David or any of the other's voices. _Hmm_ , Sara concentrated on the noise, and crept through the bushes trying to find the source.

* * *

"That was a close one," Hiro whispered when the flashlights of the security guards moved away from the house.  
"Yeah," Honey Lemon stood up to get out of her hiding position but she bumped into the clock on the table, the gears spun and whirred. "Oops! I didn't mean to-"  
 _Clank-clank-clank_ the house rumbled.  
"Uhh, what's going on?" Gogo leapt into a chair as the chunk of the living room surrounding the coffee table began to lower down.

" _Oh no_ ," Baymax stated as they got further and further away from the surface.  
Ari clung onto Hiro like a lifeboat, "I'm scared, help," she squeaked.

He held her close, "I got you sis, you're safe." Ari closed her eyes, and didn't open them until the rumbling stopped, "you can open your eyes now," Hiro told her. She peered them open and saw a sepia lit room, Honey Lemon gasped as the lights went on. Revealed a dusty, cobwebbed covered area filled with several science related things.

"What is this place?"  
"You mean besides creepy?" Gogo raised an eyebrow as the group began poking around.

Baymax scanned the room, " _it appears to be a science lab._ "  
"A really old science lab," Ari mumbled, sticking close to Hiro and looking at the bookshelves.

Honey Lemon looked at the vials on a table, her eyes met a picture signed on the wall and she had an exciting realization, "you guys! I think this lab belonged to Lenore Shimamoto!"  
"No way!" Ari exclaimed.

"I thought she was an artist," Hiro saw a zoetrope and looked through it, seeing a flower blossom and turn into a bud, "cool."  
"She was an artist," Honey Lemon tapped him on the shoulder, "with a secret lab."  
"Someone who was good at art..and science?" Gogo glanced at her friend, "what are the odds?"  
Ari also glanced at the chemist who was by the bookshelves, she noticed her chem purse, "hey Honey Lemon! Nice purse!" Everyone in the room jolted, it was light enough for the girl to get a clear view of the purse, no excuse could save them now.  
"Oh um.." Honey Lemon clutched the strap, "thanks?"  
"It kind of looks like the purse the pink lady from Big Hero 6 has!" Ari pointed out, "I didn't know they made superhero merchandise, I'm kind of jealous!" behind her, the others gave sighs of relief.  
"Anyways," she walked up to her, "what's in the books?"  
"These books are all elements," Honey Lemon explained, "and they're all placed in order of the Periodic Table from 1906." She frowned, noticing an error, "but Gallium is supposed to go before Germanium."  
"Germ-what?" Ari was puzzled as Honey Lemon grabbed one of the books to place it in the right order.

_Click_

She gasped, as a spotlight appeared on the table behind her, Honey Lemon walked up to it. She clicked the button on the table and it flipped over, revealing a journal. She glanced at the others to see if they were paying attention.

" _It was an accident,_ " Baymax was telling Hiro what happened to the paper blimp he broke, Ari decided to join them. While they weren't looking, Honey Lemon picked up the journal and opened a page.

"This is Lenore Shimamoto's secret journal!" she held it to her chest, and placed it in her jacket when a flashlight went over the group.

"What are you doin' down there?" a security guard demanded, flanked by other guards.  
Baymax stepped into the light, " _we are exploring a secret lab._ "

* * *

Soon enough, the news had somehow gotten hold of what they found out and as they were escorted out of the house Bluff Dunder was standing in front reporting the scene.

" _Breaking… trespassing SFIT pranksters discover Lenore Shimamoto's secret lab. An artist with a lab, what's that about?_ "

The report was paused, then zoomed on the exiting SFIT students, one of them was hiding something in their jacket...it was scanned and revealed to be the journal he was looking for.

Obake smiled as it was a 100% match, guess he didn't have to go looking back at the house again.

Sara crept through the bushes, trying to find where her brother's voice was coming from. What was most annoying is she kept hearing that strange femmenine voice that was unknown to her, who was it?

"So David, why are you here in the first place?" _oh.._ now she recognized the voice, her brother was not as slick as he thinks he is.

"Umm, my sister and her classmates dragged me for the..y'know."  
"Statue grab? Well glad you're not guarding, because my cousin and his pals are going to paint the dining hall."  
"Balthaser? Man, your cousin is a jerk sometimes, but why are you here?"  
"Well I was guarding the statue from some prankster SFIT students, and I've caught one.."  
"Oh Sienna you're such a tease," there was giggling between the two voices. Sara poked her head through a bush and saw David, but he wasn't alone. In the moonlight that illuminated the small clearing, her brother was next to a beautiful woman with dark curly hair and warm brown eyes. They were inches close, their noses touching and their lips placed against each other- _whaaat?_

"David!" the two yelped and jumped away from each other, both of them realizing she was there, "you've got some explaining to do!"

Her brother's yellow eyes widened and were shocked, "...Sara?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's an awkward way of being busted :))) hmmmm David?! Hmmmm?!


	36. Chapter 35: (Rivalry Weak) Sienna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang learn about the big bad who's been stalking them... and his involvement with their friend

"So." Sara hummed, observing the scene. "This is where my little brother sneaks off to… Visiting his secret girlfriend who goes to our rival school."  
"S-Sara, I can explain," David stuttered, but she interrupted him.  
"Calm down I'm not mad. Buuut." She shook her head, "you are not as sneaky as you think. I've known for weeks! Like since the art gala, I actually had to lead Ari away to another room because she saw you with your girl. Mika might not notice because she's busy nowadays, but I know you too well David."  
His mouth was agape, "I just was scared you'd hate me, you don't like SFAI after-all."  
"I hate Balthaser and his posse, not SFAI to be specific." She sighed, "was it the Rivalry Week hype that scared you?"  
"Mhmm."  
"C'mon I'm your big sister! I love you no matter what!" Sara pulled him into a hug, she then turned to his girlfriend, who looked to be around her or Mikan's age. "And nice to meet you miss..."  
"Sienna, Sienna Kline," she gave a short bow, "it's nice to you Sara, he's told me a lot about you."  
"Hopefully good things," Sara chuckled.  
"Debatable..." David rolled his eyes.  
She gave him a light punch on the shoulder, "ow!"  
Sienna giggled. "He's talked about good things, would you like to continue the conversation in my dorm room? Away from the tight security and I have some cookies and tea in my room."  
"You had me sold at cookies..."  
David chuckled, "that's my sister."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

After answering several questions from the reporters, Gogo and Honey Lemon had returned to their apartment, both of them happy to be home after such a long night.

Honey Lemon yawned. "Wow I'm super tired," Gogo closed the door and gave her a deadpan look. "So I'm gonna dive into bed."  
"And dive into the old book you swiped from the lab?" her friend questioned, Honey Lemon froze. _How did she know?!_ "So? Are we gonna read it or what?"

Honey Lemon gave a sigh of relief. _Phew she's not mad at me.._ "Of course we're gonna read it, let me turn off the lights first." She flipped a switch, turning the apartment dark except the light above her bed.

"You excited?" Gogo asked, taking a seat next to her on the bed.  
She squealed, "of course I am Gogo! We're reading what Lenore Shimamoto wrote! Who knows what secrets these pages contain!"

Honey Lemon opened a page and began to narrate, "April 19th, 1905. My friends in the arts know nothing about my scientific endeavors. They would not understand what drives me. I'm not sure I understand. Until I can be certain of success, I've decided it best to keep my scientific work secret."

"November 11th, 1905. While my research has been fascinating, my isolation grows more stifling." Honey Lemon paused, "awww, poor Shimamoto."  
"That had to be rough," Gogo hummed, "keeping a secret like that for so long and not being able to tell anyone, or afraid to tell anyone."  
"Yeah, I wonder if one of us has a secret like that," Honey Lemon pondered, "besides the superhero thing, I'm so glad Ari didn't catch on, but it's starting to hurt lying to her face."  
"It's to keep her safe, remember that the next time you feel guilt."  
"I will," she continued with her narration. "April 3rd, 1906. I've made a groundbreaking discovery too big to hide. Tomorrow I will show the city, and change the world!" Honey Lemon saw it was the last line. "That's all she wrote, the rest of the pages are just..empty!" For some reason.

"That's it?" Gogo frowned, disappointed it ended on a cliffhanger. "So she just chickened out."

"Maybe or… look at that last date," Honey Lemon pointed it out. "It was the day before the Great Catastrophe. Maybe all the chaos ruined her plans, and she never had the courage to try again." She sighed. "What if her discovery really could've changed the world?"

"Wow. This is like an actual mystery," Gogo hummed.  
"I know… and I'm gonna solve it!" Honey Lemon placed her ID in the journal as a bookmark, "before I return the journal tomorrow, I have to re-read it. There's something I'm missing."

Her friend yawned, "well, good luck." Gogo got off of the bed, "if anyone could solve the mystery of Lenore Shimamoto, it'd be you."  
"Thanks Gogo! Goodnight!"  
"Goodnight," Honey Lemon watched her walk up to her room, when she left she stared back at the journal, sighing, and turned her light off. She'd have a stronger sense in the morning after some rest.

* * *

Back at SFIT, the trio of Fred, Wasabi, and Mikan were _still_ keeping watch, even as Mikan swore she saw the sun peer out from the trees. They were in the bushes (at Granville's demand), and Wasabi was looking at the cafe with a pair of binoculars.

Fred yawned, "how many toots for snack time?"

"That wasn't on the list," Wasabi lowers his binoculars, "was it?"  
"Nope," Mikan hummed, "and don't talk about food, I'm so hungry I could snack on one of your arms."  
Fred moved a few inches away from her, in case she was serious. The sound of whistling brought their attention.  
"Professor Granville's tooting at us!" Wasabi exclaimed, Fred began to count the toots, as it then stopped. "Was that eight toots?"

"Or was it four toots twice?" Fred questioned.  
 _Rustle rustle_

"What was that?" Wasabi glanced around.

Fred did not look worried "relax, it's probably just a family of baby deer."

"Uhh.." Mikan turned around and crept away as the boys started to argue.

"Number one, I've never seen deer on campus. Two, why would the entire family be babies, Fred?"

"I dunno, maybe there's no adult deer around?"

"That is ridiculous."

Wasabi and Fred then noticed the pair of eyes behind them, they screamed as they were pulled into the bushes.  
"Sabbatini!" Fred yelled as the SFAI mascot snatched them.

* * *

While all of that was going on, Sara couldn't help but admire the dorm room of her brother's girlfriend. It was small like Mikan's dorm, barely enough room for the three of them to squeeze in and take a seat on the bed, but it was kept tidy and clean. True to her word Sienna did have cookies, the sugar cookie kind even, her favorite!

"These are delicious," Sara hummed, "you made these?"  
"Well David helped," Sienna placed a hand on his shoulder, he chuckled and blushed.

Sara popped another sugar cookie in her mouth, "so how did you two meet?"  
"Sienna and I bumped into each other," David chuckled, "she was trying to locate her cousin who she thought was harassing SFIT students again."  
"But lucky for me, I ran into this handsome gentleman," Sienna placed her hand next to David's, "we both were worried about what our peers would think so we met up in secret, and it wasn't until a while that we started dating."  
"Mhhhmm," Sara nodded, "well just remember that since I know where you live, if you hurt David I also know where to bury you.."  
"Sara!" David yelped, "don't 'shovel talk' my girlfriend!"  
"Well Mika's not here so someone has to do it!"  
"Oh right, don't tell Mika," he told her, she was confused. Why didn't he want to tell their sister?  
"Why? She can keep a secret."  
"I'll tell her when she tells us what kind of 'project stuff' she's doing with her dad," David gestured with finger quotes.  
Sienna stared at them with a cautious eye, "perhaps your sister fears your reaction like how you did David. But I hope neither of you try to find out for yourselves, secrets are kept for a reason after-all."  
Both of them looked down, "you're right." Sara sighed, "I'm just worried about her, she hasn't been the same since the fire... more secretive, more hiding of her feelings, more distant.."  
"I'm so sorry about the fire," Sienna placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks…"

"Don't remind me," David sighed, "at least Hiro's been doing better nowadays since he got to SFIT, and then his friend Ari showed up out of nowhere and filled an empty void in their little group."  
"I like Ari, she's a sweetheart," Sara hummed, "and it's interesting how they refer to each other as siblings just like we do."  
"Awww that's adorable," Sienna commented, "Ari's the little girl with blue eyes right? I noticed her at the art gala for a bit before that glob monster showed up, she seemed nice."  
"She is," David smiled, "maybe one day you could meet her," he then yawned.  
"Alright time for us to get going," Sara rubbed her eyes, yawning as well, "we've got to go to school, say goodbye to your girlfriend."  
"Noooo c'mon Sara…" he protested as Sara began dragging him through the door.  
"The sooner we go to sleep, the less energy I have to spend questioning what the SFAI students paint our dining hall into this time.."

"I can't even see what they do to the dining hall."

Sienna chuckled, "see you again Sara, and have a good night's rest my love." David smiled at her words, and willingly exited the door this time.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Rachel Rosemary: "What are you doing tonight?"  
Rachel Rosemary: "Oh Rivalry Week" yeah yeah sure

Hiro Hamada: Uhhh

TheLittleMermaid: Wha?

Rachel Rosemary: You forget to tell me that included finding A SECRET LAB BY LENORE SHIMAMOTO

Honey Lemon: It was an accident to be honest

Rachel Rosemary: But it's so cool! Mind if I visit your campus for an interview? I won't try to probe you for information don't worry

Mikan Ferns: Man speaking of that Wasabi and Fred are gonna kill me lol

Sara Ferns: What did you do

Gogo: Abandoned them to the wolves

Hiro Hamada: wow.

Sara Ferns: M I K A

Mikan Ferns: I ain't gettin' caught by Sabbatini! The guy who's the mascot is a totalkwapeowq-p,wadw,dp\

TheLittleMermaid: ?

Sara Ferns: There will be no swearing in this house

Hiro Hamada: We're in a group chat

Sara Ferns: Silence!

* * *

The next morning at SFIT, Honey Lemon was humming as she held the journal in her arms. She'd be taking it back today, having gone through the book with a fine toothed comb.

"Excuse me, miss?" She shoved the journal into her hand bag before the person behind her could notice. "I'm from the museum."  
"Oh, hi!"  
"I recognized you from the news, and I wanted to talk to you about the discovery you made," he hands her a business card. Honey Lemon inspects it and sees that his name "Herman Ekabo" is on there.

"It was… it was amazing."  
"Indeed, historians, like myself, will spend ages studying everything in Shimamoto's lab." he didn't notice the awkward smile on Honey Lemon's face, or pretended to not care. The chemist herself felt guilty for taking the journal more than ever now..

"If only we could hear in her own words why she hid her scientific work from the world."  
"Well, actually you can.." Honey Lemon pulled the journal out of her bag, "Shimamoto's journal."

Herman stared at it with wide eyes, "I took it last night and I swear I was gonna return it." She explained, "it's just..she's my idol," Honey Lemon hands him the journal.

He didn't seem bothered by her statement at all, seeming more glad to hold the journal. "I have to confess, if I'd been in your shoes..I might've done the same thing."

She gave a sigh of relief, "well at least I don't have to swing by the museum after class to return it, but I will visit to see when the journal is displayed!"  
"Sounds wonderful," Herman smirked, he waved her goodbye and walked off. She smiled, glad she did the right thing, and continued on her way.

* * *

Elsewhere on campus, Granville and Sally, still in their stealth suits, were in front of the cafeteria.

The dean glanced left and right at the building walls, "I'm sorry Professor Granville." Wasabi whimpered, "the artists got to us before we could get to our whistles!"

"And they wouldn't give us snacks!" Fred grumbled, Wasabi and him were taped on the wall of the dining hall. Which was painted into a sparkly unicorn land, for further humiliation the artists had painted them as well.  
"Where is Mikan?" Sally raised an eyebrow, "did they tape her on the other wall?"  
"She abandoned us!" Wasabi wailed, "and didn't come back!"

"Coward!" Fred added, "and we're also really sorry we couldn't stop the artists Professor Ferns."  
Granville spoke up before Sally could, "gentleman, this isn't your fault. It's mine."  
Both of them stared at her, puzzled she'd take the blame. "Really?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow.

She raised a finger, "a scientist must always acknowledge her own failings. I did not prepare you adequately."  
"We did not prepare you adequately," Sally chimed in, "we kinda threw you out to the wolves."  
"That's very reasonable of you," both Wasabi and Fred nodded.

"I won't make that mistake again. We start training for next year at 6 a.m. tomorrow!"

"Great.."

"Until then, stew in your failure," Granville then walked away.  
"Hey Wasabi do you think she's going to get stuff to cut us down?" Fred questioned.  
"Pretty sure she's not."

"Here," Sally pulled out a pair of scissors and began cutting the tape, Fred and Wasabi flopped onto the ground when they were released.

"Oof!" Wasabi pulled himself up, "thank you Professor Ferns."  
Sally gave a small smile, "you're welcome, I am going to have a talk with Mikan for abandoning you two like that."  
"No need," Fred shook his head, "we can talk to her ourselves, I hope she feels some twinge of guilt for ditching us like that! Nerve of her!"

* * *

Elsewhere on campus, Mikan sneezed. "Achoo!" she sniffled, "I feel like someone's talking about me behind my back.." Probably Fred or Wasabi, not her fault they were too dense to notice the artists sneaking up behind them.

* * *

"Next." Honey Lemon was at the museum, wanting to see the journal now that it had been returned.  
"Next."  
"Hi," she waved to the clerk as she was handed a pamphlet, "can you tell me where the Shimamoto journal is being displayed?"  
"No idea what you're talkin' about, next." _Wait what?_

"Oh, your associate. Mr. Herman Ekabo, should've brought it in this morning?" Honey Lemon clarified.

"No one works here named Herman Ekabo."

Honey Lemon had a look of complete and utter horror on her face, her green eyes widened and her mouth was wide open.

* * *

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

Honey Lemon stared at the ground as she tried entering the dining hall, how could she let Shimamoto's journal fall into the wrong hands?! _Curse my naive nature, I thought I learned from Globby_ , why couldn't she be more skeptical like Gogo was?  
"Uhg! I can't believe I let a stranger steal a priceless treasure!"

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

"Uh, wrong ID," she heard Hiro say behind her, puzzled, she looked down at her ID to see she was trying to enter the school with her SFAI ID.

"I..don't have my SFIT ID," she realized, where did she put it?

As Honey Lemon thought back to where she last saw her ID, Fred walked up to the door, "I'll do it," he offered. "Wait, I don't have a student ID either." Fred slumped his shoulders, "I'll just use my mascot ID! And there's no such thing. Sorry Honey Lemon."  
"I don't have my SFIT ID because I left it in the journal last night!" Honey Lemon realized, "I used it as a bookmark!"  
"Which means we can track the journal using your ID's RFID chip!" Hiro pointed out.

"Which means let's move!" Gogo and the others started to run in the other direction, Wasabi staring at them.  
"So we're not having lunch."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hiro, where are you? You said we'd be having lunch but I don't see you in the cafeteria anywhere!  
Hiro Hamada: I am so sorry Ari but I had a project I needed to work on

Sara Ferns: We don't get much homework during Rivalry Week

Hiro Hamada: It was an overdue project!

Mikan Ferns: Where are all of you at? Hmm?

Gogo: None of your business

TheLittleMermaid: Y'all owe me Yaki Taco for this -_-

Honey Lemon: Sorry Ari

Rachel Rosemary: Well when you're done mind letting me know because I do want that interview

Hiro Hamada: Of course

* * *

" _RFID scan indicates that Honey Lemon's ID is inside this building,_ " the gang had arrived at an abandoned warehouse in their superhero armor. Baymax landed on the pavement, the group leapt off of the robot.  
"Why does it always have to be abandoned warehouses?" Wasabi questioned.

"It's part of bad guy 101," Fred stated, lifting a claw into the air. "Right next to use fake credentials to steal things," Honey Lemon flinched behind him. "Sorry HL, but tell me he did not have a fake beard. 'Cause that's the trifecta."

She just gave him a deadpan look and continued moving.

Hiro turned the robot, "did you pick up anything else Baymax?"  
Baymax scanned the warehouse, " _yes. There is one person inside. His body temperature is below normal._ "  
"Hm," Hiro narrowed his eyebrows, that was an interesting detail.

Honey Lemon peered into the warehouse window, "it's him! And he's got the journal!"

"Baymax?" Hiro gestured to the robot, he punched the door open and the team followed. They surrounded the man, who was sitting at a table and had reading glasses on.

"Welcome Big Hero 6," Obake greeted them, "I'd hope you'd locate me more quickly." He held up Honey Lemon's SFIT ID. "Disappointing," Obake tossed the ID onto the table.

"Mr. Ekabo, or whoever you are, you stole Shimamoto's journal!" Honey Lemon pointed a finger at him.

"Wrong. I only claimed that which belongs with the one who understands its true worth."

"I understand, I think,"  
"Please."  
"Hey, uh..who are you?" Hiro questioned, he didn't know who this guy was, but there was something..off about him.  
"I need one more minute, which is perfect." Obake glanced at him, "because that's all the time you have," he clicked a button under the table, trapping Big Hero 6 into three boxes.

"Good luck!"

Hiro clenched his eyes as the box fell over him, Baymax shielded him with his arms but there wasn't any feeling of the box weighing down on him. He opened his eyes.  
"Well..this is just creepy," Hiro stared at the interior.

" _It is a replica of your bedroom,_ " Baymax stated, " _why is that creepy?._ " The robot was confused.  
"I'll explain later," he looked up and saw something that was not in his room, "find the whole solution to your problem? What even?" There was a timer, and below it was the statement, the minute the timer started to go off water started to pour into the room.  
"Oh man!" Hiro exclaimed as it went to his feet.  
" _Water. creepy,_ " Baymax stared at the filling room.

"Baymax break through the wall!" he told the robot, Baymax walked to a corner of the room and attempted to punch it, but it didn't break. "Oh come on! Really?!"

" _Oh no,_ " Baymax stated, as he continued to punch through the wall, the water was crawling up to his knees.  
"Uhg, I bet Ari would find a way out of this," Hiro grumbled, "she's good at puzzles," he turned on his comm, "uh, guys? Any ideas?"  
"Too..busy..trying to not get hacked by an evil clone here!" He heard Wasabi from the other line.  
"So cool-aaah! But also scary!" Fred chimed in, Hiro sighed.

The water was up to his neck, "Baymax!" he ran to the robot and climbed on top of him, he was starting to panic at this point.  
"Guys!" Honey Lemon exclaimed on the comm, "the words on the wall, they all have a double meaning!" _Double meaning?_

"Find the whole solution.." Hiro muttered, the water was almost filling the entire room, he had to think fast. _Find a new angle, c'mon you've thought yourself out of situations like this before.._ "Wait a minute," he realized, wasn't there something else different about the replica besides the words on the wall?  
"I have an idea, hope I'm right," he took a deep breath, and dived down, Baymax blinked at him as he started swimming towards the other bed. In the corner he saw a glass cover over a grate, _that's the whole solution!_ Hiro used his magnet-locks to stick his hands onto the covering, with all of his strength he pulled it out, _good thing I've been exercising lately,_ he thought to himself as the water was emptied out. He resurfaced and began gulping for air, and swam up to Baymax.

"It was a riddle, get it?" he asked.

" _No._ "  
"A play on words! The 'whole solution' was a hole in the floor," Hiro explained. "Y-you know?"

Baymax continued to blink at him, " _no_."  
He gave up, "yeah we'll talk later, let's go," he ran to the opened exit.

" _Oh, hominem,_ " Baymax realized, waddling after Hiro.

* * *

Obake lowered his glasses as Big Hero 6 exited the boxes, "clever and creative, now I'm mildly impressed."

"Why are you doing this?" Honey Lemon demanded.  
"Let's call that one more riddle to solve," Obake smirked, Hiro just glared at the man. He almost drowned in that box! And he thought of it as a game?

"By the way, I see you haven't figured out much about your amnesiac friend," Hiro's eyes widened, only one person fit that description. "Bit of a pity."  
"You kidnapped her," he stated, "you told Yama to kidnap Ari! And I bet you're the reason she has amnesia to boot!"  
He got a chuckle in response, "kidnapping, yes. But amnesia? Well, she isn't much use without her memories, not that she's any useful at all, I'm rather thankful you rescued her, keeping her was starting to become a burden." He saw red when hearing that, how dare he?  
"Ari is not a burden!" Hiro exploded with anger, "she's smart! And kind! What did you want with her?! Tell us now!"

"Perhaps for next time," Obake snapped his fingers and the warehouse went pitch black, they all yelped. Hiro saw a faint violet hue in the dark, illuminating the man's cold blue eyes, which sent a shiver down his spine.

The lights turned back on, the man was gone and the journal was on the chair, "where'd he go?" Hiro questioned, he turned to Baymax, "let's check the roof, maybe he's up there." The robot picked up the team and flew on top of the warehouse roof, but there was no one else but them up there.  
"He's gone!" Wasabi exclaimed.  
"Who was that guy anyway?" Hiro grumbled, angry that they couldn't catch him.  
"Can't believe he's the one who took Ari," Gogo commented, "well at least we know, shame we can't tell her."  
"I think I'll call that guy the Puzzle Master, ooh! Or Glowface!" Fred exclaimed, "get it? Because his face glowed?" He got weird looks from the team in response, "hey! If he didn't supervillain name himself, I call dibs, okay?"

"Well, I don't get it," Gogo crossed her arms, "why go through all that trouble for the journal and then leave it?"

"I'm just relieved we got it back," Honey Lemon flipped through the pages to make sure none were missing, "this is going straight to the museum!" she stopped. There was something new written.

_Until next time,_ signed by-

"Obake," Hiro frowned, so that was the name of the man who was behind Ari's kidnapping. At least he wouldn't be making a second attempt, but why did he want her in the first place? "I bet he was behind the robot attacks too."  
"Classic supervillain!" Fred exclaimed, they all stared at him again. "What?"

Later that evening, the gang had been visiting SFAI's art gallery to relax after their encounter with Obake. They had just sent the journal to the museum so there wasn't anything else to do.

* * *

Honey Lemon walked up to the group, they were staring at one of her paintings, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys I'm an art student."  
"It's okay," Fred told her, "also, we knew."  
She gasped, "you all knew? Why didn't you say anything?"  
"We figured you were keeping it a secret for a reason," Hiro told her.  
"And that you'd tell us in your own time," Wasabi chimed in.

"We're your friends Honey Lemon, we accept all of you," Fred's words made her smile the most.  
She stared at another painting, "thanks, I love chemistry, but I think I love art just as much." Honey Lemon brushed the painting with the palm of her hand, "so, even though you see the artists as the enemy, I'm sticking with it."  
"Actually, we don't really hate SFAI," Gogo explained.  
"Except for Sabbatini, I loathe him!" Fred walked up to a picture of the mascot on the wall, "it's his empty, soulless eyes, he doesn't mean any of the spirit he conveys."

Hiro chuckled, "honestly the trash talk just made the statue grab more fun," he glanced at the window. Baymax in his superhero armor picked up the statue and took off.  
Fred fist bumped him, "take that Sabbatini!"  
Gogo just rolled her eyes at them, but she was smirking.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:  
Rachel Rosemary: Thanks for the interview guys! Cool to get the play-by-play of the night you found cool stuff about Shimamoto!  
Fredilicous24: Yw, at least you agree Sabbatini is a terrible mascot!  
Rachel Rosemary: I don't like snails, they're slimy and slippery

Hiro Hamada: You sound like Ari when she talks about her dislike of eels

TheLittleMermaid: Thou shall not mention those disgusting things in thy groupchat!  
Mikan Ferns: Oh my god

Sara Ferns: I'm so glad Rivalry Week is over

Sara Ferns: My lab keeps getting glitterbombed!  
Mikan Ferns: "Our lab" -David

Hiro Hamada: Don't you dare talk about your problems to my face

Hiro Hamada: Guess who's been pranking me for the past few days

Gogo: Mikan

Wasabi: Mikan

Honey Lemon: Mikan

Fredilicous24: Mikan?

Mikan Ferns: GUYS WTH RUDE

Sara Ferns: ROFL

TheLittleMermaid: Karmi

Hiro Hamada: THANK YOU SIS

Rachel Rosemary: Next interview I do is going to be about who's Karmi

Hiro Hamada: Karmi has been doing PRANKS. All the time! And I hate it!  
TheLittleMermaid: You started it by rearranging all the stuff in her lab and hiding a rotten egg somewhere

Mikan Ferns: "Hiro what the heck that's harsh" -David

Hiro Hamada: DON'T YOU START

* * *

That night, Hiro had difficulty falling asleep, his mind kept thinking back to the encounter the team had with Obake. It was kind of hard to sleep in your own room after nearly drowning in a replica of it, at least Baymax could sleep easier, he was a robot after all.  
"Ari?" his voice called out into the darkness, there was the sound of footsteps as his sister got up from her bed and walked over to him.  
"Yeah?" she asked, "can't sleep either?"  
"Mhhm," he stared at her, "wait you can't sleep?"  
Ari shook her head, "I uh..keep having some bad dreams, about dark scary figures grabbing for me, I might grab a plushie from your room to help me sleep."  
Hiro frowned, that was concerning, "well uh, I was just thinking about something. Concerning your..kidnapping."  
"Did you find out something?" Ari blinked, "like did you run into Big Hero 6 and they told you something?"  
"Yes!" Hiro exclaimed, thank goodness for his sister's obliviousness sometimes, "I ran into one of their members and they told me who kidnapped you, for safety reasons!" He then explained to her what Obake told him, it hurt his heart when seeing her head drop.  
"So this Obake doesn't want to kidnap me anymore.." Ari frowned, "Well, at least I know evil robots aren't going to destroy the cafe anytime soon. But I wish you learned more information."  
Hiro stood up and pulled her into a hug, "I promise I'll find out Ari."  
"Thanks but I'm unsure you'd find out much, not like you're a member of Big Hero 6 or something.."  
 _Sister, you have no idea…_

Elsewhere, a certain supervillain was placing his reading glasses onto a scanner of his computer. Which downloaded all the data he got from Shimamoto's journal.

He opened up the digitized journal and flipped through the pages, "no, no, no no no," Obake hummed as he got to the blank pages. He clicked a button on his desk, which activated the blacklight, revealing the dozens of formulas and equations hidden onto the pages.

He chuckled, "now, where to begin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact I learned about his name the same time as the gang bc I didn't hear his name in the pilot, oof.


	37. Chapter 36: Exercise Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some characters go through the motions

Since learning the identity of the person behind Ariel's kidnapping, Hiro had been spending extra time in the garage. Not only to tweak his and the other's gear, but he'd been doing some exercises to improve his strength. Hiro wasn't trying to do the long way of getting super strength, but it never hurts to be prepared when knowing that there's a supervillain lurking around.

_Knock-Knock-Knock!_

"Hiro!" and that was Ari. "I got you some water!"

"Come in." There wasn't any superhero stuff lying around so he didn't have to rush to shove stuff in boxes. Ari opened the garage door, she had a few bottles of water in one of her hands. "Thanks sis, I was getting parched after working for hours." He smiled, taking a water bottle.

" _That is inaccurate, you have been exercising for about 97 minutes._ " Baymax stated behind him.  
"Woah," Ari's eyes went wide, "isn't that three times overkill? What are you working for? An SFIT marathon?"  
He looked away. "Oh it's been that long? I must've lost track of time." He chuckled. "I uhh..." Hiro glanced at Baymax, silently begging for the robot to back him up.  
The robot just blinked. " _Ari, are you alright? The bags under your eyes indicate lack of sleep,_ " the girl just huffed.  
"You still have bad dreams?" Hiro turned to her in concern.  
"No… bad memories." She sighed, "I've been feeling bummed out, but I don't know what's making me sad..I just remember that something bad had happened."

"Oh," he pulled her into a hug, Baymax waddled up to them and hugged them as well. "Cheer up Ari, how about we go for some Yaki Tacos later? It's your favorite."  
"Aww thanks," she smiled. "But uh… I had a thing this evening.."  
"A thing?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, I am sworn to secrecy!" Ari chuckled, "You can't pry it out of me!"  
"I won't." His phone buzzed, he turned to look and saw it was a text from Gogo.

Gogo: NBB causing havoc on Shimamoto Blvd. Head over ASAP

Hiro's eyes widened. "Speaking of things… I have a thing to head over… right now," he started to exit the garage, dragging Baymax along. "Bye Ari!"  
"Oh have fun!" she waved as he left. _Haha, fun._ Hiro sighed, anything dealing with the former mascot of Noodle Burger was nothing but trouble.

* * *

" _Howdy and hello Big Hero 6! Have some appetizers!_ " NBB chuckled as he tossed a car at the superheroes, they yelped and ducked out of the way. Luckily the car was

caught by Baymax before it could go tumbling downhill.  
"Would you stop throwing cars at us!?" Wasabi exclaimed at him.

" _Golly! No can do! Hee-hee-hee!_ " the robot chuckled, and then started firing lasers at them.

Gogo skidded behind the robot and tossed a disk, but NBB turned around and lasered the disk back at her, "arg! Too bad we can't super strength his mech suit like last time!"  
"I kind of prefer not breaking everything than super strength." Hiro commented, he ducked as a laser flew past him. "But agreed!"

Honey Lemon used her chem balls to shield them from another car tossed their way, "well we're gonna have to figure out another strategy to defeat him."  
NBB's lasers break the shield, " _gee whiz, you going on the defensive is sure boring. Time to add a secret ingredient!_ " The mech suit started to fly towards a crowd of people fleeing the street, the superheroes gasping with horror as NBB plucked one of the escaping bystanders.  
"Again with the hostage situation!" Fred grumbled, "super repetitive don't you think?"  
"Is the damsel in distress someone we know again?" Wasabi sighed, crossing his arms.

Baymax scanned the person gripped by the mech suit's claws, " _yes, the hostage is Rachel Rosemary._ "  
"I was being sarcastic-wait what!"

" _Hee-hee-hee,_ " NBB gave an evil chuckle, " _better be careful misters or you might hurt the lady!_ " he gestured to his hostage, who looked more tired than scared.

"Do you mind letting me go?" Rachel huffed, "what's the point in this fight in the first place?"

" _My owner wants me to test Big Hero 6!_ "  
"Oh goodie.."

Baymax flew straight at the mech, dodging the lasers, "drop her now Noodle Burger Boy!" Hiro exclaimed. But then a laser knocked them out of the sky.

" _Hee-hee-hee! No can do!_ " NBB chuckled.

" _Oh no,_ " Baymax hits the pavement hard, Hiro was sent flying into a nearby bush.  
"Ow.." he rubbed his arm, which was scraped by the fall.

" _I was alerted to the need of medical attention when you said-_ "  
"Not now Baymax.."

"Well you're gonna drop her when I blast you!" Fred prepared to deliver a fire blast but Wasabi stopped him.  
"No don't! You might crisp her," he pointed out, "I'm gonna try and cut the arm holding Rachel, can you give me a boost?"  
"Oh sure, I can do that," Fred picked up Wasabi, leaping into the air as the latter yelped at the height, and threw him at NBB. But as he activated his plasma blades and tried hacking the mechanical arm of the mech suit, NBB's laser eyes knocked him into the ground.  
"A for effort," Rachel sighed, "hey Pink! Toss one of your chem balls here!"  
Honey Lemon gave her a puzzled look, "uh..okay?" she created one of her chem balls and threw it at her.

NBB caught it with his hands, " _so predictable!_ " he chuckled.  
"I doubt you can predict this," Rachel had a grin on her face.  
" _Golly, what do you mean-_ " she poked the chem ball with a stick, and the goop covered NBB and part of the mech suit, the chemicals caused it to short circuit and released the grip on Rachel.

"I got you!" Fred leapt and caught her before she could hit the ground.  
"Thank you," she smiled, then looked up as NBB lasered the goop off of the mech suit, and realized it was damaged.

" _Gee whiz! You win for now!_ " NBB called after them as he retreated with his damaged mech suit.

After picking themselves up, Baymax walked up to the freed hostage, " _scanning, you have required no injuries from the fall, do you have any emotional injuries?_ "  
Rachel shook her head, "just my self-esteem, it'll live. Thank you Big Hero 6."

"We're just glad that you're not hurt," Gogo told her.

"Thanks for the tip," Honey Lemon smiled, "how did you know it'd work?"  
"I witnessed your first fight with that robot, since he's as predictable as he's predicting, it was simple, luckily I managed to grab a stick before he snatched me." she explained, "good thing you listened too. You might be superheroes, but you're not Avengers material."  
"Heyyy," Fred whined, "that's offensive!"  
"Well how long have you been superheroes for? Hmm?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, "no offense, but I wouldn't call you guys full-fledged superheroes yet."

"She's got a point there," Wasabi turned to Fred.  
"I saw there was a 'yet' in that!" he exclaimed, "it'll happen!"

"Hey uh, do you need us to drop you home?" Hiro offered, she shook her head no. "Alright, have a good day ma'am," and the superheroes took off into the sky to do more good deeds throughout the city. Rachel had a smirk on her face as they left, they'd grow into mighty superheroes indeed.

* * *

"For goodness sakes NBB, when I said 'don't take a hostage that's not me,' I didn't mean you take another hostage!"  
" _Don't worry sis, I learned my lesson._ " when seeing her little robot brother coming back to the hideout with his mech suit damaged and his burger face cracked, Mikan had to treat his injuries.

"Man, I can't believe that Rosemary girl is smarter than she looks," she muttered, "really weird how she knew what would stop you." but she shook it off, "why were you picking a fight with Big Hero 6 again?"  
" _Because papa ordered me too! Silly Mika!_ "  
"Of course.." she sighed, "who else would tell you to go pick a fight? Globby?" speaking of the glob monster, she'd have to have a word with him for constantly sneaking out of the hideout.

" _Gee whiz sis, is something the matter?_ " NBB stared at her with his beady eyes.  
Mikan sighed, "hey uh, Noodle, you know who Big Hero 6 is, right?"  
" _I sure do!_ " the robot nodded, " _want me to tell you?_ "  
She shook her head, "nah, not yet.." A part of her was curious to know the identities of the superheroes but at the same time, was that really right? _Since when do I question what's right and wrong,_ Mikan grumbled, _I do what benefits me, and my family, whether it's seen as right or wrong._

When she was done cleaning the remains of the chem ball off of NBB, she went to check on her dad who was _still_ in the computer room.

"How long are you going to be in that room?" Mikan questioned, walking up to him, "I'm starting to get concerned with your Big Hero 6 obsession."  
He didn't respond, "and also, would you mind telling me what your 'big plan that will benefit my future' is? I'm dying to know! And also I've run out of excuses to tell David and Sara."

Obake sighs, "you do not need to know this knowledge Mikan, but now that you're here, I need a favor to ask of you."  
"Not another errand," Mikan groaned.  
"I will be recruiting a new member into our team, and I need you to clear up one of the rooms for their living accommodations."  
"Oh.." that wasn't so bad, "I can do that." Mikan then processed what her dad told her, "wait you're recruiting _another_ villain?"

"Yes," Obake then turned to her, "I will need more than the other two for Big Hero 6." There it was again, always going back to the superheroes.

"Hey uh, dad?" she glanced at him, his cold blue eyes still staring at the screen, "am I, not helpful enough?"  
"Whatever makes you say that?" He continues to observe the screen. Ignoring her, like he always did.  
"Pay attention!" she barked, that got him to stare back at her, "I'm trying all I can to help, but is it not good enough?! Is it because I don't want to know who the heroes are?!"

"Mikan, Mikan, Mikan," Obake placed a hand on her shoulder, "you help plenty enough, but you have a busy life outside of helping me, your friends notice whenever I send you on errands correct?"  
She thought back to the dozens of questions and concerns all of her friends had, which was extremely annoying, "yep."

"It would be a shame if one of them stuck their noses where they don't belong, so it's best that you don't get involved."

Mikan pondered on his words, he did have a point. _It wouldn't be good if my siblings or friends find out, they wouldn't understand._ "Okay, I get it, but uh.." she glanced over to an image of Big Hero 6 on the monitors, "would I be of more help, if I knew who the superheroes were? So I could keep an eye on their civilian identities and such."

Her dad had a grin forming on his face, "Mikan, you are brilliant!"  
"I am?" she puffed out her chest, "I mean I am, but thanks for the validation."  
"You can help by keeping an eye on the superheroes when they're not busy saving the city," Obake smirked, "you do know them personally after-all."  
"Wait, I do?" Mikan raised an eyebrow, her father snapped his fingers, bringing up a side-by-side comparison of the superheroes, and their civilian identities. "Oh my god I do," her eyes widened, mentally kicking herself in the face for not noticing sooner.

"It would greatly benefit my plans if you kept an eye on them," Obake told her, "you may not know them yet, but it will help your future."  
Mikan hummed, a part of conscience told her that spying on her friends was a bad idea, but her father needing her help triumphed all. "Yes, I'll make sure to keep a close eye." She gave a malicious smirk, her sharp green eyes narrowed into slits, and her sharp teeth bared.

* * *

_Later in the evening…_

Ari had walked to SFIT's campus and the dormitories. She stopped at a door and knocked, smiling when seeing the person on the other side open the door.  
"Hey Ari," Karmi had a small but nervous smile on her face, "you're a little early."  
"I know!" the excitement in her voice almost startled the biotech major, "It's just you said to come over for a thing and I was sold when you mentioned writing because I love writing!"  
"Huh, you love writing?" she nodded, "good, anyways come in."

Karmi's dorm room was kept organized, making it look larger despite it's small size, "nice room." Ari smiled, she took a seat on the bed.

"Thanks," Karmi smiled back.

"So, speaking of writing..what does this have to do with the 'thing' you told me of?" She watched Karmi as she pulled out her laptop and opened a document, Ari understood what it was in an instant.  
"Oh, cool!" Ari smirked, "is that the thing?"  
"Mhhm," Karmi nodded, "I was surprised that you wrote about Big Hero 6..and how you said it so bravely, not afraid of what I'd think."  
"Well you're my friend, I trust you not to make fun of my interests." Ari saw Karmi's expression softened, her smile getting wider.

"Anyways, I've been working on this for awhile, but I can't always catch errors," her friend explained. "Would it be alright if you helped out a little?"

Ari replied with a smile, "of course! Sounds fun!"  
"Great," Karmi smiled back, "let's get started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, lot of events... Wanted a quick filler before getting to Fan Friction : D, and to set up stuff


	38. Chapter 37: (Fan Friction) KheartsQT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karmi writes fan fiction about bh6! Hiro is not amused

All was quiet in San Fransokyo, all quiet that is...

Except for the roaring inferno engulfing the San Fransokyo Biometric Laboratory! Luckily, Big Hero 6 was ready to save the day!

There was Chop Chop, Speed Queen, Flame Jumper, Chem Girl, The Red Panda, and of course their fearless leader..

Captain Cutie!

"My beautiful girlfriend is in there!" Captain Cutie pointed towards the door, "we have to save her, come on."  
As Captain Cutie led his team inside, he felt not the burning of the flames, but the burning of his desire to save his one true love. Chop Chop attempted to open the door of the lab, but it burned his hand, "aaah! Too hot!"  
"I see another way," Speed Queen pointed towards the vent, "I'll skate up that wall."  
"Speed Queen Veloci-shot!" The team followed her up the vent and to the other side of the door, but were surrounded by flames on all sides! It was almost the end for Big Hero 6.

"We can't give up now," Captain Cutie attempted to rally his team.  
"What do we do, people?" Flame Jumper glanced around.

Suddenly, Chem Girl noticed the nearby water fountain, "feeling thirsty Chop Chop?"  
"Hear you loud and clear, Chem Girl," her teammate smirked, "time to make chop chop!" He sliced the top of the water fountain, releasing all the water.

"Things are about to get _muy_ caliente," Flame Jumper fire blasted the water, turning it into steam. "Ice ball Chem Girl!"

"Time for a chemical reaction!" Chem Girl tossed up an ice ball which turned the steam into snow, freezing the flames, they all cheered.

Captain Cutie ran up to a door that was no longer blocked by the flames, "it's the door to my beautiful girlfriend's very important office!" He attempted to open the door but it wouldn't open.

Red Panda walked up to him, " _stand back, it is time for Overdrive Mode_." The team stepped back as he underwent his transition into his Overdrive Mode, a bigger and more powerful version of himself, he busted the wall open. As he turned back to normal Captain Cutie entered the office.

Inside her very important office was Captain Cutie's one true love…

Karmi!

Captain Cutie and Karmi ran towards each other happily, happy to be in each others arms once more-

"What... what is this?"

* * *

Hiro stared at the computer screen with a mixture of pure disgust and utter horror on his face.  
"Only the coolest thing ever!" Fred exclaimed, they were at his house because he had something "exciting" to show Hiro, which was the last word he'd use to describe what he'd just read. "Someone with the tag 'KheartsQT' wrote fanfiction, about us you guys!"

Hiro just scrolled the mouse back to the top page, the person's icon had a picture of superhero him, and a familiar looking girl drawn staring at each other.

"Karmi.." he narrowed his eyes, he didn't even have to inspect her profile to guess who it was, her name was literally all over the story!  
"Ooh, and it says that she's got a beta reader for the story with the tag 'LittleMermaid11', wonder who that is." Fred pointed out, _oh god…_.

"I know them," Hiro pulled out his phone and began to dial a number.

"Who are you calling-"  
"One second."

The phone picked up, " _oh hi Hiro!_ " the person on the other line chirped, positive as ever.  
"Heyyy Ari," he pretended to not notice Fred's shocked reaction, "so...I noticed that you're beta reading a story made by a…"  
" _KheartsQT?_ " there was a gasp on the other line, " _oh my god you're never going to believe this, but I know them in real life._ "  
"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
" _Yeah, it's Karmi!_ " mystery solved for real, " _don't worry though, she's not forcing me or anything before you overreact like last time."_

Hiro sighed, "well glad to know you have such confidence in me sis."  
" _I'm kidding I'm kidding!_ " Ari chuckled, " _but to confess I think my beta reading makes the story better! Karmi literally was going to name the pink member of Big Hero 6 Tall Girl!_ " there was the howling of laughter on the other line, " _like..way to scrape the bottom of the barrel!_ "

Fred and Hiro exchange looks, he goes back to the phone, "sounds great Ari. Talk to you later."  
" _See ya bro!_ " and the call ends, Hiro just sighed when it was over.  
"So," Fred turned to him, "your sister likes fanfiction that involves shipping you with-"  
"Fred don't remind me!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkest part of San Fransokyo's prisons, was a certain prisoner. She was kneeling down in deep meditation, taking deep, heavy breaths. In an instant she leapt towards the ceiling, marking the tallies on the roof a white chalk, once the daily task was done she leapt back onto the ground and continued her meditation. She sighed, rather irritated at the people who had put her there in the first place.

It wasn't so bad, she always had a visitor weekly or more, but it was rather boring nonetheless.

The footsteps of the security guard pried her mint-green eyes open, the usual steps of the night guard making his rounds were...off, a lilac envelope was sent her way. Curious, she opened the envelope, inside was a piece of dark paper marked with a red monster symbol that hid a sliver of graphene.

Behind her the man's left face glowed purple, "you can thank me later.." and the "security guard" went on his way.

Momkase smirked at the graphene shard, "lovely."

By the time the actual nighttime security guard made his rounds, he'd realize that the bars and everything in the cell room was cut. And that the prisoner had escaped.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Omg Ari I love the fic that you're beta reading! Do you know what happens in the next chapter? owo... give a gal some sneak peeks!  
TheLittleMermaid: Sorry, I am bound by blood to not utter spoilers, you gotta wait like everyone else.

Hiro Hamada: Guys please no

Mikan Ferns: What's wrong Hiro not a fanfic person? : )

Hiro Hamada: -_-

Fredilicous24: Ari Ari! How come you're not in the story?! You'd make a great character!  
TheLittleMermaid: I don't think I'd be a good character in a story tbh..I'd probably annoy the readers

Honey Lemon: Aww Ari don't sell yourself short!  
Hiro Hamada: Oh cheer up!  
Mikan Ferns: I think the readers like you a lot

TheLittleMermaid: What

Mikan Ferns: What

* * *

" _Hiro._ "  
"Huh, what?"  
" _You seem distracted._ " Baymax and Hiro were doing some solo night patrol, and the latter kept looking at his phone. " _Are you alright?_ "  
"It's just..who would name a superhero 'Captain Cutie?'" Hiro could not stop thinking about that darn story, "Karmi's story is so stupid!"

His friends on the other line of the comm did not share his opinion. "Karmi's story is so genius, she is clearly building towards an epic saga here," Fred kept poking through the fan fiction.

Wasabi was next to him, inspecting his action figures on the shelves, "it is pretty cool to have fanfiction about us. The name alone implies that we have fans."

Honey Lemon and Gogo were also looking at the story, "I feel like a celebrity!" The former exclaimed, "but uh..I can't believe I was almost named Tall Girl in the story, I'm not really that tall, am I?" Gogo, who was only a little taller than the sitting Honey Lemon, just stared at her as she popped her gum. "Okay, that's fair."

The two patrolling superheroes stopped a wind turbine, Baymax was watching Hiro pace in circles. " _Creative expression can be a positive way to connect with people,_ " the robot told him.

"Maybe, but not this stuff. It's the worst!" he exclaimed, "what she has us doing? It's not possible!"

"I've never tried skating vertically," Gogo commented on the comm, "but technically possible."

"I wonder what the fans are gonna call Captain Cutie and Karmi as a couple," Fred pondered, Hiro stuck his tongue in disgust.  
"Fred, please, I beg of you, no."  
"Cute-armie? Karm-utie? I dunno, but it's exciting," Hiro just sighed, _whyyyy._ Fred then notices his computer beeps with a news alert.

"Breaking news, prison breaking that is. Master thief and renowned sushi chef, Momakase has escaped." Bluff Dunder reported, an image of the chef's arrest was shown on screen.

"Oh my gosh," Honey Lemon exclaimed.  
"We gotta tell the guys," Gogo begins to dial Wasabi, who picks up in an instant.  
"Hey Gogo, what's up?" he asks on the other line, she tells him what they just learned. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," she crossed her arms, "make sure others know."  
"I don't believe it!" Gogo heard Fred exclaim from the other line.

"Yeah, Fred's looking at it right now," Wasabi explains, showing her Fred staring at his computer.

"They're demolishing Krei's old lab on Akuma Island!" Nope, he was looking at another news report than them.  
Gogo sighed, "what? No! Momakase busted out of prison!"

Fred's eyes widened, he swiveled his chair around, "ohhh. I must have different news alert set up than you guys do. I'm very attached to Akuma Island."

"You mean the place we first got our butts kicked?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly! It's a key location in our origin story!"

Hiro speaks up, "can we get back to the crazy knife lady?" he lowered his arms. "Baymax, can you find her?"

" _Scanning for..Momakase,_ " Baymax whirred, " _Momakase is currently heading south of Night Market Square._ "

"So-Ni-Ma it is," Hiro hopped on top of Baymax.

"Go get her, Captain Cutie!" Wasabi teased on the other line.

"Wasabi!"

* * *

"I don't understand, you had her! What happened?!"  
"Fred, shhh!" The next morning at SFIT, Hiro had to report to Fred (who had the comm shut off) that Momakase had escaped.

He lowered his voice, "sorry, but I thought you got her."  
"Obake happened," Hiro told him, "he sent one of his drones and...she got away."  
"So they're working together now?" Fred questioned.  
"Yeah, this is not good," he stared at the ground. _What did Obake want Momakase for? Extra muscle?_..it was hard to take her down at all, and now, they were in some real trouble.  
"This isn't good unless, you're really into supervillain fanfiction!" Fred pointed out, "then it would be great! I'd call them 'Moma-bake' or 'Oba-kase', both sound good."  
Hiro nudged him aside, "Fred, the last thing I want to talk about is fan-"

"Hiro!" In his mini-rant he had accidentally bumped into Karmi, "I was in the middle of my process."  
"Your what?" He raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, "not that it's any of your business, but I'm working on chapter two of my Big Hero 6 fanfiction." She pointed to her phone, "and I just got to the part where Captain Cutie-"  
Hiro pushed the phone aside, "um that's okay Karmi, I don't..I don't really get fanfiction," he starts to walk away.  
Karmi groaned at his response, "Of course you don't get it, you don't have a soul." He stops walking, _dramatic much?_ "But I do, and so do a lot of other people, like Fredilicous24."

Fred notices Hiro's glare and puts his phone down.

"Do you really think it's okay? You know, writing fanfiction about real people?" he asked her, considering she was writing fanfiction about him! Not that she knew it was him but still.

"Why would you care?" Karmi raised an eyebrow.  
"I-I don't!"  
"Okay then," she starts to walk away, "gotta run. Places to go, people who aren't you to see, chapter two goes live tonight!" A few students in the hallway who are on the fanfiction website see the status update and cheer.

"Yes!" Including Fred, "chapter two! I'm so-I'm-" He sees Hiro has a look of irritation on his face.

"Maybe I'll read it, you know, eventually, if I'm bored."  
Hiro huffs, "I am betrayed by my sister first, and now my friends."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Wasabi: Hey guys, did you notice how happy David was today?

Gogo: Happy in…

Wasabi: Better mood than he's been during school hours

Sara Ferns: "because I'm happy?" -David

Honey Lemon: Good for you David! Glad to hear your mood has improved!  
TheLittleMermaid: What changed?

Sara Ferns: "Oh y'know..better luck." -David

TheLittleMermaid: :/

Hiro Hamada: That's Ari for "I don't believe you"

Mikan Ferns: Are you psychic now?

Hiro Hamada: She uses that face at me. A lot

TheLittleMermaid: You lie a lot!  
Sara Ferns: Roasted!

* * *

Unknown to any of the heroes, Momakase had found Obake's lair and was holding her knife to his throat. "So, what are you supposed to be?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.  
"Someone who finds Big Hero 6 tiresome," Obake was unfazed by the graphene knife pointed at him.  
"Join the club."  
"Actually, that's what I was going to offer you," he lowers the knife, "a chance to eliminate our mutual enemies."

"Hmm, I'm listening," Momakase puts her knife back into its holster.  
"I've been doing a little research," he snaps his fingers and the dozens of articles, sightings, and reports of Big Hero 6 shows on the monitors.  
She wouldn't admit it to him, but the amount of information he had collected was rather impressive, "well, aren't you thorough?"  
"Everything about them, who they are, what they can do, who they fight." He stops at a news report, "oh look, there's you." She doesn't respond, only staring at the report of her escape.  
"Does my club sound fun?"  
She tosses her knife at an image of their leader, the glass shatters, "I'm in."  
"Excellent," he hands her something, "here."  
"Hmm, scan-jammer." Momakase places it on her wrist, "I like this club."

"And another thing," he brings up another image on a monitor, her mint-green eyes widened, "one of my kids is friends with someone you know." She stares silent at the image on the monitor, "rather unfair that the superheroes get to spend time with the ones they love, and you don't."  
"What is the point you're trying to make?" Momakase narrows her eyes at him, he just chuckles.  
"Oh don't worry, blackmail doesn't work in a case like this, just letting you know..that I can remove this obstacle, after the first task of course." Obake watches her like a hawk as she retrieves her knife from the glitching monitor it broke, "club members do get benefits after-all."  
She smirks at him, "benefits indeed."

In the shadow of the two villains scheming, is a picture of Mikan and her siblings, one arm is pulling Sara into the picture, and the other is wrapped around David. His innocent smile a mirror to the evil grins in the room.

* * *

"When last we saw our heroes, they had pulled Captain Cutie's beautiful girlfriend from a raging inferno," Fred was reading Karmi's latest chapter aloud, much to Hiro's annoyance.  
"Oh, do you have to?" Hiro frowned at him.  
"Aw," he pouted, getting off of the chair, "I was gonna do the voices and everything!"

"I don't even know why you're giving Karmi the clicks," Hiro turned back to the computer which was hooked up to the Baymax, they were trying to find Momakase.

Honey Lemon poked her head from behind a wall, "y'know, Ari works on this story too," she pointed out, "they're not doing it to hurt you, they're just having fun."  
"Don't remind me," he grumbled, bad enough Karmi was writing fanfiction about shipping herself with his superhero sona. No, what was even worse was that his own sister joined the bandwagon!  
"Why do you care so much?" his friend questioned.  
"Because Captain Cutie's embarrassed about Karmi's crush on him," Gogo responded, Hiro's eyes went wide.  
"I'm not embarrassed!" He protested.

" _The increased blood flow to your cheeks is a common sign of embarrassment,_ " Baymax pointed out, Hiro gave a nervous chuckle and covered the robot's screen with his hands.

He clears his throat, "okay Baymax, try scanning for Momakase again."

Baymax whirred, " _scanning...unable to locate Momakase._ "

Hiro frowned, "weird," he inspected the computer to see if the scanner was broken, "the diagnostics check out. There's nothing wrong with Baymax's scanner."

"Scan-jammer, she's got one," Gogo explained, _great..now we can't find her._

"Must be," Wasabi scooted over, "but..what if Baymax scans for heat signatures?" He suggested, "graphene conducts heat."  
"Sure sure. I understand what you're talking about," Fred wheels himself over, placing a hand on his shoulder, "but maybe Hiro doesn't, y'know?"  
"Even if he can't find Momakase, he can find her blades," Honey Lemon explained.

"Ohhh.."

Hiro turned to the robot, "Baymax?"  
" _Scanning for graphene heat signature,_ " he fires up his scanner to not look for Momakase, but for her blades, " _I have detected graphene at SecuriTech._ "  
"SecuriTech?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow, "don't they make prison security systems?"

Gogo raises a hand, "wait she breaks out of prison, and now her plan is to what? Break back in?"

"I guess we're gonna find out," Hiro unplugs Baymax, "let's suit up."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hey Rachel, have you seen the story I'm beta reading?

Rachel Rosemary: Katie and I saw, we're cracking up

Hiro Hamada: Oh great Katie reads fanfiction too?!

Rachel Rosemary: Usually stuff I show her, she needs to get out more

Sara Ferns: I'd love to meet your cat!  
TheLittleMermaid: You'll regret it

Mikan Ferns: XD

Hiro Hamada: What's next? David likes the story?

Sara Ferns: "Sara does funny voices and I just love it" -David

Hiro Hamada: *sigh*

TheLittleMermaid: Did you just type a sigh in chat?! Why you no like : (

Rachel Rosemary: I'm next to Ari and she's literally frowning irl

Hiro Hamada: OMG I'M SORRY I JUST DON'T GET IT

TheLittleMermaid: It's fiiine

* * *

The team had arrived at the SecuriTech building, Fred opening the door and they entered.

"Some security company," Gogo scoffed at the sight of nobody there.

"Or some thief," Hiro commented, he lowered his voice, "Baymax, Where's Momakase?"  
Baymax scanned the room, " _scanning, a small amount of graphene is travelling south on Ichiba Street at a rapid pace._ "

"Not rapid enough!" Gogo smirked, and she skated out of the building, to chase after the mercenary/chef.

While she did that, the others inspected the room, Hiro picked up a folder. "Wouldn't you think they have an alarm or something?"  
"They're a security company," Fred pointed out, "I assume they could get a good deal," he looked around. "Are we sure Momakase was here? I mean there's no sign of her anywhere."  
Wasabi hit the side of the wall, the metal scraped as slash lines became visible and a locked door fell to pieces, the signature sign of her presence.

"You were saying?"

* * *

Momakase sprinted through the streets, behind her, Gogo was skating after her. Cars screech and stop as the chase goes on. "Got her," Gogo explained through the comm, she had managed to corner her in an alleyway but Momakase leapt up to the building roofs.  
"And I've lost her.." Gogo sighed, no way she could skate over. "Unless," she stared at her disks, she spun the ones on her arms, took a few steps back, and revved up the disks on her legs. Smoke emitted from the disks as she built up speed, static poured from the disks as she skated towards the wall. Before she crashed in, Gogo leapt onto the wall, and skidded towards the top.

"Hey, veloci-shot worked," she smirked, "thank you Karmi." Gogo stared at the smoke from the disks, then continued to skate after Momakase.

The villain looked surprised when she got on top of the roofs, "hmm, impressive," Momakase quipped, "but not enough." And she started sprinting again.  
"Get back here!" Gogo demanded, skating after her from rooftop to rooftop. She tosses her disks at Momakase, she slices them in with her graphene katana, then leaps at Gogo, slicing the disks on her legs.

Gogo groans as she hits the ground, she gawks at Momakase, the villain sheathes her katana and flashes her a smirk before hopping off of the rooftop.

"Uhg, she outran me," Gogo grumbled, in hindsight she should've been more careful, considering Momakase had _indestructible knives._

"Gogo, everything alright?" She heard Hiro on the comm.  
"No, Momakase escaped."  
"Aw come on!" Fred exclaimed on the comm, "oh sorry."  
"This is bad, she took everything SecuriTech was working on," Wasabi explained, her eyes widened.  
"That's not good," Gogo sighed.  
"Yeah, we'll have to go back to the drawing board," Hiro told them, "do you need us to pick you up? Or did Momakase break your disks."  
"She broke my disks, a pickup would be nice."  
"Okay, heading over."

* * *

_The next morning at SFIT.._

"So, David," Ari stared at the youngest Fern kid, "how come you wanted me to meet you here?" She had gotten a message from him to meet him at the campus's quad.  
"Yeah I'm kind of curious," Mikan was also there, and Sara as well. The latter had a smirk on her face, _does she know what's going on?_

"Well, there's someone I'd like you guys to meet," David gestured for a person to come over, Ari gasped with surprise as a woman walked over, "my girlfriend Sienna."  
"Woah!" Mikan exclaimed, a shock present in her sharp green eyes, "when did you get a girlfriend?"  
"Since the art gala."  
"I'm almost mad at myself for not catching it," she smiled, "nice to meet you Sienna."  
"Nice to meet you too," Sienna waved, "it's nice to meet David's other sister." She then turned to Ari, "and you must be their little friend, nice to meet you."  
"Hey, I'm not that little," Ari pouted, "but hi!"

"I thought it would be a good time to introduce each other since I've been in such a good mood," David had a fond smile on his face, "and might as well since now's a good time."  
Ari hummed, she wondered what caused him to be in brighter spirits, _maybe he snapped out of his weird funk since the Food Fight.._

A loud outburst alerts Ari's attention, it was Hiro. He realized that the student body was looking at him, pulled up his hoodie, and ran back to the campus.  
"What's up with that kid?" she heard a student say to her friend, who shrugged in response.

"Aww," she sighed, "I think that fanfiction is really bothering Hiro."

Mikan narrowed her eyes, "he should stop being so sensitive, jeez."  
"Mika!" Sara gave her a whack on the shoulder, "that's rude!"  
"What? Hiro could take a chill pill, it's just a story."  
"That's being mean!"  
David sighed, "my sisters in a nutshell," he muttered to Sienna, who giggled.

"Nice to have family to care about," she quipped, "I wish my cousin was a bit nicer, even though we go to the same school, he has to act like a bully to even me sometimes."  
"Aww," Ari gave her a hug, "sorry you have to deal with that."  
"It's fine," Sienna patted her on the head, "should you go check on your brother?"  
But to her surprise, Ari shook her head, "nope, not unless he starts singing a different tune."

"Well, I'm going to introduce Sienna to the rest of the gang then," David wrapped one of his arms around Sienna's, "have a good day Ari." The couple then walked off, since she had nothing else to do, might as well chat with Karmi, and vent about her brother's upsetting behavior.

* * *

After that embarrassing moment in the quad, Hiro decided to check up on Honey Lemon and Fred, who were in the garden of the former's house. There was a miniature iceberg covering Fred's pond, and the poor comic fan was stuck on top.

"Making Fred-sicles?" Hiro questioned, walking up to them.

"We thought since Karmi got it right about Gogo's vertical skating, maybe she was onto something about Fred and I being able to make ice showers too." As she explains, Heathcliff is chipping some of the ice into a snow cone.

Fred pops out of his suit, shivering, "so far it-it is not working."  
"But we're not giving up!"

"The Gogo thing was i-it was a lucky guess!" Hiro gestures, "a coincidence!" He crosses his arms, _first my sister joins the bandwagon, then my classmates keep talking about it everywhere I go, and now my own teammates are getting inspired! Will it ever stop?_

"Hiro," Honey Lemon speaks in a softer tone, "maybe it would be easier if you just accepted the fact that Karmi had a crush on you." She tells him, "and then you can appreciate that she has something to contribute!"

"Yeah," Fred breaks free of the ice and bounces up to them, "besides, it's not like you can get her to stop writing."  
"Oh that's it!" Hiro realized, "Karmi might not listen to me, but I know someone she will listen to."  
Honey Lemon and Fred exchange glances, "Ari?" the former guesses.  
"Kind of harsh man," the latter pouts, "I mean she's Karmi's friend, and having her try to get Karmi to stop writing is kind of mean."  
"That's not the point I was going with!"

* * *

Speaking of Karmi and Ari, the two girls were at Karmi's lab.

"I still don't get why Hiro's acting so weird about the fanfiction," Ari frowned, "is it because of me?"

Karmi whipped her head around, "don't say that!" She exclaimed, "Hiro is just being... Hiro."  
"Mhmm," Ari crossed her arms, her face leaning on the table, not believing her friend's words, "whatever you say."  
"Look," Karmi took a seat next to her, "I don't know why your brother is acting rude about it, but I'm pretty sure it's not because of you."

"Yeah sure,"

"I'm serious! He cares about you a lot."  
Ari just huffed, then lifted her head up, "do you hear that?"  
"Hear what?" Karmi glanced around.

"The-"

The doors of the lab were busted open, hacked into ribbons, both girls yelped ducked behind the counter, and their eyes were wide as dinner plates as a shadow loomed over them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ep is one of my favs!
> 
> ...kind of a little sad not a lot of people feel the same way : (. I didn't change much about Karmi's fic but change HL's code-name. I had to... poor gal kept being called "Tall Girl." She's not THAT tall 


	39. Chapter 38: (Fan Friction) Akuma Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some secrets are spilled, for better or for worse.

Both of them were silent as a mouse, hiding behind the lab table's counter to try and avoid the eyes of the looming figure that just sliced the door open.

"What do we do?" Ari mouthed to Karmi, her friend shook her head, neither of them wanted to make a sound. Swallowing liquid courage, Ari popped her eyes above the counter, so she could put a name to the face that broke in.

She swallowed a gasp, recognizing the slim figure with wild black and blue hair, sharp graphene blades (something Wasabi talked her ear off about), and piercing green eyes that bore into her soul. _Momakase! Noooo!_ Then she questioned why the recently escaped criminal was in the lab, _maybe she's just stealing something and then she'll leave..we just have to hide behind the counter and it'll be good!_

"You can't hide from me," Momakase's voice was silky, "I know you girls are hiding," she tosses one of her knives at the wall, Karmi shudders and covers her head with her hands at the sound of the impact.

Ari bristles with anger, she glances at Karmi, flashing a comforting smile. Then she glances at the knife stuck on the wall, _well only one way this'll turn out, thank god I looked at some of those karate videos Hiro had on the garage computer for some reason._ Ari exhaled, and sprinted to the knife on the wall, pulling it out, Momakase stared at her like a hawk.

"You really think that'll stop me?" the villain has a malicious grin, "how cute. However, you're not the girl I need to grab, but you'd be a good bonus package."

She yowled, charging towards Momakase with the knife in her hand. But the villain just blocked it with her katana, on instinct Ari kicked her legs. But she was then backhanded to the ground. Disarming the knife, Momakase pointed her weapon at Ari's nose, and pinned her with her heel, she whimpered at the pressure being placed on her stomach.

"If you do not come out of hiding," Momakase declared, "well your little friend isn't going to be in one piece," the tip of the katana grazed Ari's neck. Blood started to seep from the cut, and Ari let out a yelp from the pain. _Please Karmi just run!_ She silently begged her friend from behind the counter.

The katana then prodded her sides, she screamed, and that second warning caused the biotech major to pop from behind the counter.

"Stop it!" Karmi yelled, "I'll go-just stop hurting Ariel!" there were small tears crawling down her cheek.

The villain grinned, "smart decision."

Ari growled at Momakase, "leave Karmi alone!"  
"You're in no position to make any demands," the katana nicked her elbow, "I'll admit you putting up a fight was rather heroic and reckless, a trait you seem to carry with your brother." Momakase added under her breath, and Ari was too focused on the pain to even try to decipher the bits she heard.  
"I can't have you running off and warning the superheroes, so I guess you will be coming with me as well."  
"Like hell I will!" Ari spat, "you'll have to drag me you sore excuse for a sushi chef!"  
Momakase gritted her teeth, and the last thing she saw was Karmi's horrified face and cries of "stop!" before a fist slammed the right side of her face and the world went black.

* * *

When Ari awoke again, Karmi was relieved at the sight of her blue eyes opening up. "Oh thank god you're not dead," she smiled.

Ari stirred, rubbing the side of her face that was hit, "what..happened?" her right eye was swollen and black, barely open.  
"Okay so the crazy knife lady kidnapped us, and we're on a motorboat to who-knows-where," Karmi explained, gesturing to their kidnapper in the front seat driving somewhere. Ari got up and looked at the water skipping past them.

"If I have to fish you out of the water, you'll be sleeping with the fishes," Momakase warned her, but didn't turn her head.

Ari crossed her arms, and rubbed the cut on her elbow, "you're just bringing me along because my aunt beat you in a cooking contest."  
Momakase didn't verbally respond, but she whipped her head around to glare at the girls, Karmi flinched at the intensity of her anger, shown in her green eyes. But something about it seemed familiar.

"Hold on a moment," she frowned, staring at their kidnapper, something about her narrowed eyes, wild black hair, and slim build was familiar. Karmi turned to her friend, "Ari, does she look familiar?"  
"Well, long story short, I saw her in a match with the Fern kids," Ari explained, thinking back at the memory.  
"No I mean, does she remind you of anyone?" She whispered, "that glare reminded me of the time David yelled at me during the earthquake demo," but she couldn't put her finger on why, a thought crossed her mind and her eyes widened.

"By any chance, have you met any of David's blood relatives?"  
"No, well I mean his sisters and parents but they're not blood related although he could pass off as Sally and Steven's biological kid," Ari shrugged, "he's mentioned his mom once or twice."  
In the corner of her eye, Karmi noted how Momakase grew silent at the mention of the youngest Fern kid. "Have you met his mom? How much do you know about her?"  
"Only three things, his mom isn't a good person, she's a food fighter, and that she was arrested with a bunch of other fighters when Big Hero 6 showed up in the Food Fights after Momakase."  
No wonder Ari didn't get it by now, "David was lying when he said other food fighters were arrested when Momakse was," Karmi told her, "but his mom was arrested, and there's only one person that fits the bill."  
Still, Ari stared at her with her confused face, "um, why are you bringing this up?" Karmi facepalmed at her friend's obliviousness, _how can someone be so smart and yet not see what's in front of her nose._

"Because," Karmi turned to Momakase, and pointed to her, "she looks a lot like David!"  
"Wait are you implying.." now she got the picture, "no way! That can't be his-"  
"Yes," Momakase spoke up, "I am in fact, David's biological mother."

Both of their jaws dropped, while Karmi was internally freaking out, Ari was freaking out externally. "Wh-what-wh-wha-what?!" She looked like she was about to pop, "how could David be related to you?! He is a precious pure person!"

"He's not that innocent," Karmi recalled his outburst in class, _must've inherited his mom's temper as well as looks,_ "it's mostly his eyes that make it off-putting, he probably got them from his dad."  
"Not that I'd tell you," Momakase seemed annoyed with their reaction.

"Really?" she narrowed her eyes.  
"His blood father isn't in the picture, nor will he ever be." The villain continued to pilot the boat, "your friendship with my son isn't going to win you any favors."  
"You don't say," Ari rolled her eyes, "I doubt he'd approve of your actions!"  
"Leave him out of this," she gritted her teeth.  
"You brought him up! No wonder he calls Sally his mom as well, imagine having a heartless villain for a mother!"  
"I will punch the other side of your face if you don't shut up!" Momakase's threat got her to stop talking, Ari slumped on the side of the motorboat and shivered. Karmi wanted so badly to comfort the poor girl, but she didn't know how, her stomach churned as they got closer to wherever they were going.

"Where are you taking us?" Karmi demanded, the shores of San Fransokyo were in the distance.

"If you must know, Akuma Island." Their kidnapper continued to focus on driving the motorboat. "It was the first place where Big Hero 6 had faced their first foe, and discovered who he was."

She gasped, "it was where they faced Professor Callaghan for the first time?"

"Who's Callaghan?" Karmi whipped her head to face Ari, she almost didn't hear her, she was so quiet, with tears running down her cheeks. Then Karmi processed what she asked, _why doesn't she know? I thought her brother would tell her or something._

"Didn't Hiro tell you?" she questioned.  
"No, I never heard that before," Ari shook her head, "is he a professor at SFIT?"

"Sort-of," Karmi frowned at the mention of the former dean, setter of the showcase fire, and true identity of the supervillain Yokai. "I'll tell you later, maybe eventually, but don't google it and sure as hell don't ask Hiro or anyone else!"  
Ari frowned, then nodded, _good._ Karmi sighed, Ari's brother was going to kill her when he learned she was the one who brought up Callaghan.

Provided she survives tonight, she didn't know what Momakase wanted with them, but it wasn't good.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: I have an announcement, I'm adding someone new to the group chat

Rachel Rosemary: Yay I am no longer the person who's been a member the shortest

Sara Ferns: ": D" -David

Fredilicous24: Oooh who is it?

_Mikan Ferns added Sienna Kline to the group chat_

Hiro Hamada: Oh David's GF, cool

Honey Lemon: Hi Sienna!  
Sienna Kline: Hi!  
Sienna Kline: Happy to be here, but who's Fredilicous24?

Fredilicous24: Me! Fred Fredrickson the Fourth! Tho I might change my UN

_Fredilicous24 changed their name to Fredzilla_

Fredzilla: This is so more cooler : D

Gogo: Debatable

Mikan Ferns: More easier to write too

Fredzilla: What

Mikan Ferns: What?

Sara Ferns: "Where's Ari?" -David

Gogo: Good question!

Rachel Rosemary: Yeah, I'm at the cafe grabbing another one of Cass's delicious muffins, and she's not there.

Hiro Hamada: Probably talking to Karmi : (

Mikan Ferns: Let the fanfic thing go dude!  
Mikan Ferns: Let it gooo!

Sara Ferns: Blocked

Rachel Rosemary: TheLittleMermaid where are you?

Hiro Hamada: Ari!

Hiro Hamada: Did her phone die?

* * *

Hiro got his answer to where his sister was. He had been waiting outside SFIT in his superhero gear (his plan to get Karmi to stop writing: tell her to stop in his superhero persona considering she had a crush on superhero him.) Then Honey Lemon on the comm told him to come over to Fred's house, he did, and was shown a frightful video.

"Captain Cutie, meet me at Akuma Island by nine o' clock or you'll never see your beautiful girlfriend again." The video was recorded by Momakase, who panned the camera to show the biotech genius tied up.  
"Uhhg! Let me go!" Karmi glared at the villain, next to her was his beloved sister, bound, gagged, and knocked unconscious. He gasped with horror at her black eye, bruised lip, and gash on her neck.

"I also grabbed her little friend, she was rather uncooperative so I had to resort to certain measurements," Momakase showed no remorse at beating up his precious little sister, "clock's ticking."  
The video ended, and Baymax closed the screen.  
"Poor Ari!" Fred whimpered, "she must've done all she could in fighting her off!"

"That's Krei's old lab," Hiro turned to the gang, anger painted on his face, "it's set to be demolished tonight. Karmi and Ari need us." He puts on his helmet and starts to walk towards the door.  
"And Karmi's not my girlfriend!"

* * *

In a flash, the rest of them had gotten into their superhero armor, and just like their first visit, clung onto Baymax as he flew to the island.

"Momakase knows we're coming," Wasabi pointed out.

"But she can't catch all of us if we split up," Gogo suggested.  
"Whoever gets to the girls first, signal the others," Hiro explained, "me and Baymax will go as a pair, Fred and Wasabi, you go in the path we first went through on our first visit. Honey Lemon and Gogo, try entering from the roof."  
They all nodded, "good luck everyone, and watch out." Honey Lemon told them as they split off and went in three separate directions.

Out of all of them, Fred was the only one excited to be in Akuma Island again, the place had too many bad memories, even for the comic fan himself, who tried to distract himself by humming.  
"Big Hero 6 back on Akuma island, where it all began!" He sang as he rounded a corner, he gestured for Wasabi to follow.

"Just a little further and we should be able to cut our way," he mumbled, they walked down a hallway, Wasabi stopped in the middle, "we should be far enough."

He activates his plasma blade, and begins to cut a hole, the plasma sizzling as he does so.

"Can you do that any faster?" Fred questions, "look it doesn't have to be a perfect circle."  
"Oh I'd need a lot more tools to make a perfect circle," Wasabi tells him, behind him said perfect circle cuts a hole into the wall. The metal creaks and the smoke clears as Momakase smirks from the other side of the wall.  
"Hello boys," they scream as she threw her knives at them.

* * *

In another corner of the island, Gogo and Honey Lemon found a grate. The latter used acid from a chem ball to melt the glass, then used other chem balls to create a rubber lift to lower them down.

As they descended into the darkness, a glint in the shadows, and a dark chuckle was heard before the rubber snapped and they tumbled onto the floor. They screamed, Honey Lemon managed to cushion the fall with a chem ball before they hit the ground. As they landed, Momakase charged and knocked Gogo onto the floor.  
"Gogo!" Honey Lemon exclaimed, she dodged two knives thrown at her, and jumped away from the mercenary using her chem balls, at a far enough distance she created a shield. Which had a graphene katana pierced through it, and before Momakase could slice the top part open, Honey Lemon escaped to the lower levels.

She emerged again and threw a chem ball at Momakase's leg, she sliced the goop stuck to her leg and continued to chase after Honey Lemon. As she ran away, she tossed a chem ball to the ground, creating ice and causing the mercenary to slip and have to use her katana to keep her balance. She leapt in front of Honey Lemon but before Momakase could attack, Gogo slammed her into a metal pillar, she tossed a disk that was sliced up, jumped onto a pillar and hit her again. Momakase then swiped her katana at Gogo, which hit her hand, she yelped and covered it, trying to stop the sudden flow of blood rushing out. Before she was attacked again, Honey Lemon then slammed into Momakase, and tossed a chem ball of ice, which caused her to stumble and drop her katana.  
"There's nowhere left to go," Gogo told her, still pressing the cut on her hand.

Momakase just looked up and smirked, "that's what I was going to say to you." Before the two superheroes could process, she tossed two knives up, cutting the steel pillars which began to descend on them, they both screamed.

* * *

Hiro removes the panel of the camera room's wirings. "Maybe we can use the old security system to find Karmi and Ari," he hovers his gloves over the generator to activate it.  
" _It appears to still be functional,_ " Baymax commented as the screens booted up.

"There they are," Hiro glanced to the middle-left screen, which showed both of the girls bound to a chair, tied up, and gagged, Ari was staring at the camera with sadness, while Karmi had her eyes closed, tears running down her face. It hurt to see them both so..vulnerable, "no sign of Momakase."  
" _There is also no sign of the others,_ " Baymax warned him.  
He sighed, "let's untie them first before we try and find the others," he walked through the door of the room they were trapped in.

" _Narrow,_ " Baymax squeezed through the door.

* * *

The only sounds Ari heard was the whimpering and sniffling of her captured friend, she wanted so badly to comfort Karmi, but she bound and gagged to the chair. Helpless as a newborn, everytime she squirmed a sharp pain would occur from the wounds on her sides. That and the inevitability of death wasn't helpful either. _I hope the disintegration is painless,_ Ari prayed, she knew the superheroes wouldn't bother for her. After all, who would risk their lives over two regular girls?  
"Karmi!"

Her eyes widened as the leader, Captain Cutie and his fighting partner Red Panda leaped from upper level. Karmi reacted in an instant, her eyes widened and she tried shouting a warning, but all that came out was muffled noises due to the gag.

Captain Cutie ungagged her, "uh! Careful it's a-"  
Karmi's warning came too late.  
"Trap," a button clicked and the surrounding area was blocked by prison bars, the lights went on behind them to reveal the other injured members of Big Hero 6, captured by their kidnapper.

"Welcome Captain Cutie," Momakase taunted, "what a good boyfriend you are."

"It was just a story!" Ari exclaimed after the superhero ungagged her, Karmi turned to the other superheroes and untied them as well.  
"I'm not-" Captain Cutie cleared his throat, "I mean, you're not getting away with this!"  
"I'd say I already have," Momakase clicks another button, activating the mechanisms of the bars, whirring as the purple wiring lights up. She walks over to the cell, "not bad, to trap all six of you, I actually had to break a sweat."  
"That's not all you're going to break," Speed Queen untied Chop Chop, who activated his blades and tried cutting the cell, but it deflected back with purple sparks.  
"The bars aren't the only way out," Chem Girl tried melting the floor but the bars bounced it towards one of the chairs, melting it instead of the floor.  
"This cell was designed specifically for you," Momakase told them, "I thought of everything."  
Captain Cutie narrowed his eyes, "you mean Obake thought of everything."  
Ari gasped, remembering that name as the one behind her kidnapping.  
"His intel, the ideas are all me."  
Against her better judgement Ari spoke up, "including the idea of kidnapping friends of your son,"

The superheroes flashed her puzzled looks, _you'd think they'd know about her connection to David, guess not._ If looks could kill, Momakase's glare would've melted her like the poor chair.

"Her son?" Chop Chop narrowed his eyes, then turned to the villain.  
"Long story, forget I said anything."

"Quick question," Flame Jumper spoke up, "what exactly do you guys call yourselves? Is it 'Oba-kase?' My money's on 'Moma-bake' personally."  
Momakase scoffed, "stupid last words," she snapped her fingers, "a disintegration device is about to wipe out everything on this island." She leaned in to stare at the glaring Captain Cutie, "was it worth it to reunite with your girlfriend?"  
"She called me your girlfriend!" Karmi squealed, forgetting her fear for a moment and squeezing the purple-armored leader's shoulder.

At that moment the alarm blared, the room flashed red.

" _Prepare for disintegration,_ " the intercom announced.  
"That's my cue," Momakase tossed one of her knives at the back door's control panel, opening it up. She then backflipped out of the room and escaped.

They all stared in silence, "well," Chop Chop spoke up. "If no one else is going to say it.."

* * *

/He let out a scream of horror as the mercenary got on her motorboat and drove away from Akuma Island.

"Big Hero 6 is trapped," she reported to Obake over the comm.  
" _Perfect._ "  
She glanced back at the island, "I thought you had plans for the boy."  
" _If he's good enough, he'll survive._ " she turned off the comm and sped away faster.

* * *

Back at the cell, Flame Jumper tapped the bars with his claws. "Okay, we're locked in a super high-tech prison cell, made especially to contain us, and the building is about to be disintegrated."  
"But?" Speed Queen raised an eyebrow.  
"Oh, there is no 'but,' I'm just stating the facts here."  
"You guys shouldn't have come," Ari sighed, "I wasn't worth it, you're now trapped and it's my fault!"  
The superheroes stared at her with sympathy, Karmi placed a hand on her shoulder.  
"Hey it's not your fault.." she told her, "if anything, it's mine... Momakase was after me, you just got roped in."

Ari just looked away, not wanting to face the biotech major. _I wonder if Hiro would miss me... I knew I was gonna hurt him, and I was gonna try and figure out what was bothering him today..now I'll never get to cheer him up, or look at cat pictures with Honey Lemon. Or try and confess my feelings to-_

"This isn't good," Chem Girl interrupted her thoughts, the pink member was tugging her hair.  
"Oh boy," Speed Queen glanced at her, "when you say it's not good, it's really not good."

"You guys know another way out, right?" Karmi asked them, the superheroes just looked away, "right?!"  
"We're gonna die," Ari buried her face into her arms.  
"Actually, I do."

* * *

They both turned to Captain Cutie, "Red Panda, engage Overdrive Mode," he placed a chip into the red robot.  
Red Panda warbled, " _my body is changing._ " Both girls stared in shock and wonder as Red Panda began to grow bigger, lilac light emitted from his arms and chest, " _Overdrive Mode engaged._ "  
"What?" Chop Chop gawked at the transformed robot, and Flame Jumper was hopping with delight.  
Karmi was in even more delight, "Overdrive Mode, from my story! It's real!"

"After-" Captain Cutie cleared his throat, "after I heard Karmi's story, I made a few tweaks to the armor."  
"Tweaks? You mean awesome upgrades!" Ari exclaimed, shaking her arms in a "jazz hands" motion.  
"It'll drain his battery really quickly, but it's enough to.." he clicked a button, and from Red Panda's wings out came a sword, they all stepped back as the red robot channeled his power into the blade, and there was a cracking boom as the bars, and the wall burst open to the outside.

"Do that..."

Red Panda switched back to his regular form, but he was loopy, " _I did the thing!_ " He slurred.

" _Disintegration in four minutes,_ " the intercom told them.

"We've gotta go," Captain Cutie exclaimed, he turned to the red robot, "can you fly us out Red Panda?"  
" _I can walk through anything!_ "  
"That's a no," he held onto the red robot as he leaned back, and turned to his still-gaping teammate, "uh, Chop Chop, grab Red Panda!"

Chop Chop yelped as the red robot was tossed at him, " _hey Chop Chop!_ "  
"Karmi," Captain Cutie turned to the biotech major and gently grabbed her hand, she looked up at him and blushed. "Follow me," Ari swore she saw heart eyes on her friend as the captain led her out of the building.  
"This is so cool!" she squealed.

" _Disintegration in two minutes._ "  
"Goodbye Akuma Island!" Flame Jumper exclaimed, Ari was too injured to walk, so the lizard carried her bridal style out of the building.

As the group sped through the island's foliage, the disintegration device went off behind them. They reached a fence, Chop Chop dropped Red Panda for a moment and activated his blades.  
"Say your line Chop Chop," Flame Jumper whispered to him, Karmi glanced at the superhero.  
"Oh yeah," he nodded, "time to make chop chop!" He sliced the fence open and they continued to run. They stopped again, this time at the cliffs.  
"Should we swim?" Karmi looked at the water below.  
"Not enough time," Captain Cutie told her.  
Chem Girl pulled out a chem ball, "ready Flame Jumper?"  
"Ready, Chem Girl!" Flame Jumper handed Ari to Speed Queen, and stared at the sea.  
"Told you Chem Girl was a good choice of name," Ari whispered to Karmi.  
Flame Jumper leaped into the air, "things are about to get _muy caliente,_ " he roared fire at the water, and smoke rose up to them.  
"Time for a chemical reaction!" Chem Girl clapped the smoke with her chem balls, creating an ice slide to safety, the ice crackled as it touched the sea.  
"Time to go!" Captain Cutie exclaimed, as the disintegration was right behind them, they all went down the ice slide, the captain held Karmi tight as the group reached the bottom. The explosion launched them into the ocean.  
" _Buildings go bye-bye,_ " Red Panda slurred as they were knocked into the air, and landed on the bottom of the ice slide.

* * *

Snow began to accumulate on the ice, which softened their fall. As they got up, Hiro and Karmi glanced at each other, then looked away, the latter attempting to hide her scarlet cheeks.  
"Honeyzilla saves the day!" Fred declared, they were far enough from the girls so they didn't hear it.

Honey Lemon glanced at him, "Honeyzilla?"  
He got up, "oh, that's what we'd be called if they were shipping us," he gestured to the both of them. "I've got them for everyone on the team, minus Hiro because he's a minor." He pulled out flashcards, "I've got Gogosabi, Fredsabi, Honeysabi, I'm banking on Wasabi being a fan favorite." He glanced at their friend, who landed face first into the snow, "I mean look at him, he's so cool."

Ari stared up at the superheroes, "oh my god! That was awesome!" There were tears of joy on her face, "I'm so happy! I live!" Hiro smiled at her joy, he was mostly glad that she was alright. He turned back to Baymax, and began to poke at the robot's wirings, he hoped Overdrive Mode didn't use too much power, otherwise they'd be paddling home.  
"I can't believe you created Overdrive Mode because of me," Karmi exclaimed.  
"That's right," he told her in his "Captain Cutie" voice, "you're the one that really saved the day back there."

"So then, you liked my story." His eyes widened, recalling how earlier he wanted to persuade her to stop in his superhero persona, he turned to her.  
"Yeah..about that Karmi, I've been meaning to say to you uh, that.." But when he looked into her reddish-brown eyes, he just couldn't discourage her! Even if it was annoying that her and his sister worked on that story, it made them happy, how could he force them to stop doing something they love? He'd be willing to bite down at his irritation if it meant Ari and… maybe Karmi (deep, deep down), were happy.  
Hiro cleared his throat, "as long as there's a Captain Cutie, there will always be justice."  
She stared with wide eyes, then squealed, "this is the best day ever!" Karmi giggled, she pulled him into a hug, laughing with excitement. It was kind of cute..in some sort of way seeing her excited, he just glanced at his friends, Wasabi flashed him a thumbs up, Fred made a heart symbol, and he just looked away and smiled.

* * *

And so our heroes saved the day. Escaping the hideout of the evil Momakase in one piece!

"Yay, Karmi!" Big Hero 6 and Ari exclaimed.

" _Yay, Karmi,_ "  
Captain Cutie nudged his teammates to the side, "we'd be honored if you became the seventh member of Big Hero 6."  
Karmi gasped, "Big Hero 7? I'm in!" She took his hand.

"And I have one more question," Captain Cutie then got down on one knee, "Karmi, will you marry me?"  
She stared at delight at him, her eyes shining with happiness-  
"Really? Way to jump the gun," Ari commented.

* * *

Big Hero 6 had dropped them off at SFIT, and she was waiting for her brother to pick her up, in the meanwhile, Karmi was reading her latest chapter of her fanfiction.  
"I was getting to the good part!" She exclaimed.  
"Let me guess, it actually ends with them kissing?"  
Karmi looked away and blushed, "maaaaybe?"  
She snickered, "well if I was writing myself with my crush, I'd do the same."  
"Oooh," Karmi wiggled her eyebrows, "you don't say?"  
Now it was Ari's turn to blush, "leave me alone! At least you have a higher chance than me!" She placed a hand on her bruised cheek, "I get enough from Mikan and… David."  
At the mention of the youngest Fern kid, they thought back to what they had learned, "David.." Karmi's gaze darkened, "I'm going to talk to him when I get a chance." They were still processing that Momakase, the mercenary/sushi chef that kidnapped them and almost got them, and Big Hero 6 killed, was the biological mother of the sweet hearted robotics major.

"Speaking of talking about things," Ari glanced up to her, "is now a good time to ask who's Callaghan?"  
"He uh...he.." Karmi glanced away, "he was the... dean before Granville. That's all I have to say."  
"Oh," considering Granville had started at SFIT this year, Ari wasn't surprised there was a dean before her, but something about her explanation seemed..missing.

However, just as Ari opened her mouth to fire another question, Hiro burst through the doors.  
"Ari!" In an instant he was at her side, "oh my god you're all beat up!"

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore," she rubbed her injured elbow, "I just..wanna go home, I'm tired." Her eyes felt droopy, and she yawned.

"I banadaged some of her injuries," Karmi told him, "luckily she hasn't gotten an infection."  
Hiro walked up to her, she winced, expecting to get yelled at. Instead Hiro pulled her into a soft hug, "thank you..for looking after my sister." The hug ended just as it began, he then scooped up Ari, "c'mon sis, let's go home."  
"Goodbye Karmi," Ari weakly waved to her friend, who smiled and returned the gesture.

As Hiro led Ari to his moped and drove her home, all the bottled up emotions he carried during Akuma Island were let out, he was in tears as he gripped his sister's hand. He felt pure, hot anger at Momakase for bruising the poor girl up, he hadn't felt so angry at someone in a long time. As they entered the empty cafe, Hiro carried Ari up the stairs.  
"I'll live for a few steps y'know," she protested, but he wasn't having any of that. As he carried her to her bed, he saw that Mochi was curled by the pillow.  
"Oh great, Mochi's joined the bandwagon," she sarcastically commented as Hiro tucked her in, the calico meowed and nuzzled Ari's arm. She giggled and patted his head.

"Sweet dreams Ari," he kissed her forehead, "goodnight sis."  
"Goodnight Hiro," she yawned, "I love you," as soon as she said that, Ari was happily dozing into dreamland. Mochi smiled up at him, then burrowed himself under the covers of the bed, soaking up her warmth.

He smiled, _she deserved the softest dreams,_ he thought as he crawled into his own bed.

With a yawn, Hiro dozed off, and both siblings were fast asleep after a long day. Earning the well-deserved rest they needed.


	40. Chapter 39: (Mini-Max) Sidekick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's Mini-Max!

" _Breaking news now! Super heroic, super damage downtown today when Big Hero 6's leaping lizard failed spectacularly trying to catch the mutated menace known as Globby. Coming up…_ "

Ari rolled her eyes at Bluff Dunder's latest news report, apparently Flame Jumper did not know how to damage control. She winced at the damage shown on the T.V, _A for effort I guess._

A paw prodding her shoulder caught her attention, she turned around to see Rachel and Katie staring at her, the feline peered at the news, "ouch..."  
"Yeah, yikes," Ari sat next to them, it was one of the rare days Ari didn't assist Cass in the Lucky Cat Cafe, instead she spent the time talking to her friends.  
"The more I hear Globby on the news, the more I'm disappointed in his life choices," Rachel rolled her eyes.  
"It's funny seeing him on screen though," Katie snickered, "San Fransokyo didn't have any monsters until he showed up."  
"And you happen to know places with monsters?" Ari questioned. The blue and her friend looked at each other.  
"Well, I saw a lot of stuff during my trip to New York," Rachel drummed her fingers on the table, "I mean there was a giant lizar-"  
"Ohhh don't go on," Ari moaned. "I don't like monsters!"  
"I thought you didn't like eels?" Katie twitched her whiskers.  
"Both are bad!"  
Rachel had a smirk on her face, "imagine if one day, you woke up, saw the news, and there were eel monsters-"  
"Noooo!" Ari exclaimed dramatically, "that'd be my nightmare come to life!" They all giggled.

* * *

_Elsewhere in Hiro's garage..._

the gang were looking at the news report on Baymax's screen.

"Not again Fred," Hiro groaned at the report.

"Maybe he shouldn't roll solo for breakfast again," Gogo commented.  
"Oh brunch," Wasabi chipped in, "Fred loves to brunch."  
Honey Lemon turned to them, "Freddie means well guys, it's just when he puts on the suit, he gets carried away."

"Yeah?" Gogo raised an eyebrow, "tell that to the Zimmermans."  
"But someone has to watch the city when we're at school."  
"Yeah, but who's gonna watch Fred watching the city?" Wasabi questioned.

"Mini-Max."  
Gogo turned to Hiro, who was working on the table, "Mini-Max?"

He turns on the desk lamp next to his table, lighting up the small skeletal structure he was working on. "I'm designing Mini-Max to keep an eye on Fred while we're in school," he explained, picking up a hand that was crawling away from the body.  
"Cool!" Wasabi was impressed, "like a nanny."  
Honey Lemon walked up to the desk, "Oh! He's so adorbs, a Fred-sitter."

"Ahem,"  
They all turned around to see Fred at the garage door.  
"Oh! Hey Fred," Hiro flashed him a peace sign, then glanced around, ''How long have you been standing there?"  
"Long enough," Fred replied, "long enough to hear you're building me a sidekick!"

"Uhh..yeah, uh..yeah!" life just loved giving Hiro excuses doesn't it? "A sidekick! Right!"  
Fred bounced up to him, "so, Hiro, when's my new sidekick going to be ready to side kick some butt? Pun intended!"  
"Pun intended to what?" Gogo raised an eyebrow.  
Fred smirked and flashed her finger guns, "amuse those who go in for that sort of thing."  
"So no one," he pouted at her.  
"He'll be ready soon," Hiro rubbed his hands, "I just need to use the lab at school to finish the programming on his superhero chip."  
Fred laughed with excitement, exiting the garage with a spring in his step. "You're building me a sidekick! You're building me a sidekick!" He sang as he left.

Honey Lemon glanced at the group, "should we tell him that Mini-Max isn't really his sidekick?"  
"I've never been happier!" They glanced at the direction Fred left, well it didn't hurt to see him happy like that.  
"Nah," the others chorused.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Omg I missed Sienna's introduction HI

Sienna Kline: Hello n.n

Sara Ferns: "Isn't she great?!" -David

TheLittleMermaid: Sure is David… -_-

Hiro Hamada:

Gogo:

Wasabi:  
Honey Lemon:

Fredzilla: I feel the tension

Sienna Kline: So, did anyone see the news today?

Mikan Ferns: Yep. This is why the lizard is my least favorite member of Big Hero 6, just ...wow. Way to fail at your one job.

Fredzilla: HEY

TheLittleMermaid: That's kind of a mean thing to say

Sara Ferns: Mika!

Mikan Ferns: Not like they can read it :/, it's just my opinion

TheLittleMermaid: Is David still there?

Sara Ferns: No he went to pick up his toolkit he left in the robotic lab

Gogo: Aren't you the one who usually leaves toolkits there?

Sara Ferns: Irrelevant!

Sienna Kline: Ouch, sometimes I leave my sketchbook in one of my classes half the time.

Sienna Kline: It always has a few less pages…because my classmates steal them.

TheLittleMermaid: Wow rude..can't they just buy paper?

Sienna Kline: I mean they steal my sketches

Honey Lemon: what

Sienna Kline: Art thieves

* * *

Speaking of grabbing that toolkit, just as David found it and was about to bring it back to his lab, he ran into someone.  
"Ah! Careful!" David exclaimed, as someone brushed past him, a sharp gasp was all he needed to identify them. "What's got you so distracted Karmi?"  
Karmi grumbled, "I was just about to go looking for you, David." She said his name like it was forbidden, something was on her mind.

He bit his lip, "what for?"

There was a pause, "I can't believe you're related to her.."  
David gulped, _her?..._ what was Karmi talking about? _Was she referring to..no, no way, even with her biotech knowledge could she conclude that-_

"Momakase." She glared. "You're her son.  
Those words were what sent shivers down his spine, "wh-wh-what?" his throat felt hoarse. Quicker than a whip the joyful atmosphere was sucked out of the lab, Karmi held so much power over him in that moment, those words could break him.

"You have no proof," he bared his teeth, attempting to scare Karmi, and felt a glimmer of satisfaction when hearing her startled yelp.

"She told me herself," _what?_ Karmi kept speaking bravely, "plus you look very similar, except the eyes."  
"How could she tell you?" David crossed his arms, it was impossible. His ears then heard Karmi's soft sniffles, and her heavy breath before answering.  
"She-she abducted Ari and I! To use as bait for Big Hero 6-we almost disintegrated on Akuma Island!" Karmi's outburst caught him off guard, but what really shook his core was the words.

"She..what?"  
"Almost got Ari and I killed! She was punching poor Ari right in front of me!" He felt Karmi grip his elbow, "she knew that I was your classmate because you must've told her that information!"  
"And it's my fault?!"

"Well who else could it be?!"  
"Her then!" David screamed, "I didn't know she did that! And I am furious at her, but just because I share her blood doesn't mean I share her crimes!"  
Karmi paused, "you didn't know?"  
"No! I didn't!"  
She let go of his elbow, "I'm sorry, it had happened so suddenly and..."  
"Still on your mind huh?" David sighed, "I know how you feel."  
"No you don't," Karmi grumbled, "none of you do," she began to walk away.  
"Wait!" David called to her, he attempted to grab her shoulder-  
"I said, leave me alone!" Karmi snapped, "god why can't you or your sisters understand personal space?! At least Ari and her brother do, and they're younger than you!" She bolted away at a more rapid pace, leaving him alone with his toolkit.

David just stood there, pondering her words. _Did my mother really hurt Ari and her?_ He was aware that she was not a kind person, but you'd think she'd leave his classmates alone. _And what was that about personal space?_ He recalled the last time he tried reaching out to her. She had already declined but still he pushed for her to reconsider. _Maybe… maybe she hasn't changed, even though she opened up to Ari… she's just giving the rest of us the cold shoulder_. With a heavy sigh, he started walking back to his lab, Sara wanted that toolkit back to work on her midterm assignment.

* * *

_Later that night.._

Hiro and Baymax were attempting to enter the robotics labs, so he could finish his work on Mini-Max. But his ID wasn't letting him in. "What?!"

" _There is a sign,_ " Baymax told him. Hiro looked up at sigh next to the door.  
"The robotics lab will be closed for maintenance until further notice," he read, "what? Who okayed this?"

"I did! Hiro turned to see Granville was behind him.

"B-b-but, our midterm projects are due," he stammered.

"I'm giving everyone an extension," she narrowed her eyes. "Until further notice, the lab is off-limits to everyone Mr. Hamada!" Granville then walked away, "I'm going home, I suggest you do the same!"  
Hiro frowned as she went out of sight, "maintenance? The lab was fine yesterday."

"Come on, there's another way in," he gestured for Baymax to follow, they rounded a corner to one of the open windows. "Trampoline time, Baymax."

" _Please use caution, there are significant incidents of trampoline related injuries,_ " Baymax warned him as the robot lay down on his back. Hiro made sure to be careful as he bounced up to the open window, his arms clinging to the window frame. Once he was in, he went down to the door to open it for Baymax, the robot attempting to jump up to the window himself. " _I was not designed for jumping._ "  
"Baymax," Hiro whispered.  
" _Hiro._ " He gestured for the robot to follow him inside, Baymax blinked, waddling inside the lab doors.

Once inside, it didn't take much time for Hiro to get to his lab, and finish programming the chip for Mini-Max. "One Mini-Max super sidekick chip, done!" he plucked the chip out of the computer. As he admired his new chip, Baymax whirred, scanning outside the lab.

" _I detect Professor Granville._ "

"What?" Hiro blinked, "she said she was going home." They poked their heads out of the door, and watched Granville use her ID to enter a room. They ducked back into the lab when the dean glanced left and right. When the coast was clear, they poked their heads back out, "we better get out of here." He whispered to Baymax, they closed the door, preparing to exit via the window.

Unknown to either of them, what Granville was working on was a machine of some sorts.

She clicked a button, "vocal command test."  
" _Vocal command acknowledged,_ " she placed a panel back onto the wiring.

* * *

The next morning, the gang (including Ari) were at Fred's house to see Mini-Max being activated.

As Fred giggled with excitement, Ari turned to Gogo, "what made Hiro want to program Mini-Max?"  
"For Fred," Gogo replied, "kind of like a sidekick of some sort.  
"Correction, Mini-Max is a sidekick!" Fred exclaimed.

Honey Lemon, Gogo, Baymax, and Ari circled the table as Hiro inserted Mini-Max's chip. The small robot opened his unnaturally bright blue eyes. He bounced, jumping on Wasabi's shoulder and hopping onto the floor.

Fred was vibrating with excitement.

" _Greetings! I am Mini-Max! Defender of justice!_ " His voice was loud, boastful, which fueled Fred's excitement as he bounced to his new robot friend.  
"I can see it now! We are gonna be such a classic duo. I'm obviously going to be the more serious logical one, and Mini-Max is going to be the plucky comic relief."

"Like Rachel and Katie!" Ari exclaimed, the others shared glances.

"Which one out of that duo is the logical one?" Wasabi turned to Gogo, who shrugged.

"Right Mini-Max?-AAH!" Fred attempted to pat the small robot on the head but for his efforts he got backhanded and hogtied, the group winced. Ari felt phantom pain in her sides just watching it.

" _Do you yield?_ " Mini-Max demanded.

"I was... trying to pat your head..." he explained through strained teeth.

" _My apologies!_ " he was untied, " _carry on with your affectionate gesture_." Fred hesitated, patting Mini-Max's head with his right hand a few times, then recoiled, wincing.

Baymax scanned his hand, " _you have a minor abrasion on your wrist_." He lifted him up from the floor and pressed his large vinyl hands onto Fred's wrist, his palms turning blue. " _Icing the area for ten minutes twice a day is recommended._ "

Fred hummed, while he enjoyed the refreshing cool feeling swelling his pain, the two robots made eye contact, blinking at each other.

" _Hello, I am Baymax._ "  
" _Greetings! I am Mini-Max! I am programmed to assist and protect my fellow heroes, to thwart villainy, and to always be a champion of justice!_ " The small robot bounced on top of Fred's beanie, and then on top of Baymax's head.

" _I am a personal healthcare companion._ "  
" _We all serve in our own way!_ "

"Awww," Ari gushed, "he acts like a little superhero, maybe you could sign him up to be the seventh member of Big Hero 6! They could use a little guy like him on their team," behind her, the others gave chuckles and awkward smiles.

The buzzing of her phone in her pocket caught her attention, "I'll just take this out there," she waved to the group as she exited the room to answer the caller. "Hey! How are you doing?"  
" _Not well,_ " Karmi replied on the other line, " _I talked to David about... that, it didn't go so well?_ "  
"Did he hurt you?" Ari frowned.  
" _No, I um… might've blamed him a little_."  
"Karmi!"

" _In my defense I'm still in shock._ "  
"Yeah," she pressed a hand against her right side, the black eye had healed last week, but it still hurt. "Um, speaking of that..remember how when my brother came to pick me up, he gave you a hug-"  
" _Don't remind me!_ " According to Hiro, Karmi had been avoiding him since then," _I didn't expect that. From him._ "  
"He was just happy you were there so I wasn't totally alone," Ari lowered her voice, "between you and me, he was worried about you as well."  
" _Really? Are you trying to make me feel better?_ "  
"Well it's not like he wants you dead or anything, I bet he'd miss someone to compete with."  
" _I guess you're right..don't tell him I said that!_ "

Ari snickered, "is that all you wanted to tell me?"  
" _Well yes but no,_ " Karmi hummed.

"Haha very funny, did you see the news today?"  
" _Yeah I did and yikes!_ "  
"I know right?! Ouch..."

* * *

When she returned to the room, Hiro was in front of the group who were sitting on the couch. "-I had a good reason, what if Professor Granville's up to something, you know, bad?"

Ari said nothing as she took a seat between Gogo and Honey Lemon, the entire group dissolved into laughter at Hiro's words.

"Oh please!"  
"That's funny!"

Even Mini-Max joined in, his mechanical laughter bounced off of the others. Ari, feeling bad for her brother, was the only one not to laugh, but she did stare at him awkwardly.  
"I'm serious," Hiro held up the yearbook he found in the school library, "think about it! She mysteriously stopped teaching here 20 years ago, and has suddenly returned."

"He has a point," Ari whispered to the others, "kind of odd."  
"Plus, she used to keep the, you know, just the rarest superconductor in the universe on her desk as a paperweight."

"And now she's working on some secret project!"

Wasabi stood up, walking up to him and placing a hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Ever think you might be letting your personal feelings get in the way here? Just a tad-ski?"  
"Yeah, everyone knows Granville's really hard on you," Gogo pointed out.  
"Try to focus on the positive," Honey Lemon added, "she gives you a lot of attention!"  
"Sounds like tough love," Ari concluded.

Hiro sighed, "guys I'm telling you, something's not right." He started to walk out, "c'mon Baymax?"  
"Where are you going?" Wasabi questioned.

"To find the truth about Professor Granville."

* * *

There was an awkward silence in the room once Hiro and Baymax left, "hey uh.." Ari spoke up, "who was the former dean of the school before Granville?"  
The others around her flinched, "nevermind..." she sighed, "just curious." Even though Karmi told her she shouldn't bother the others, _I am definitely missing something._

"We should start the movie," Honey Lemon was the first to speak, "you haven't seen _The Mermaiden's Tale_ haven't you Ari?" She shook her head.  
"What happened to, 'it's so much more than a movie?'" Gogo narrowed her eyes.  
"Hey! It's a masterpiece!"  
"No spoilers!" Ari covered her ears in a comical manner.  
" _I will defend your ears from leaked information!_ " Mini-Max leapt to her side and also covered her ears, she giggled.

"Thanks."  
" _You are Mini-Maximum welcome!_ "

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Fredzilla: Ari,jpeg

Rachel Rosemary: OMG

Gogo: Ari after we showed her a movie

Sara Ferns: The Mermaiden's Tale?

Fredzilla: Other,jpeg

Fredzilla: Yes

Sienna Kline: Awww poor HL

Mikan Ferns: Wasabi no

Rachel Rosemary: Who's the robot?

Fredzilla: Mini-Max! My new sidekick!  
TheLittleMermaid: Iwrwas soersaaaaad

Gogo: Fred did you give Ari back her phone

Fredzilla: SHE SWIPED IT

TheLittleMermaid: TJewaokdos wirh tbe harokfdc,

Sienna Kline: yeah that part gets me every time

Sara Ferns: How do you understand her?!

* * *

"The hero looks, scans, searches, not a sign of illegal activity." Under the cover of night, Fred and Mini-Max patrolled the city, the small robot was dressed in a miniature version of Baymax's armor, but in a blue color. "Not a sign." Fred lowered the binoculars.  
" _I have detected a sign of illegal activity,_ " Mini-Max pointed below to the streets.  
"Yeah! Just saw that! We're so in sync!" He chuckled, "we should probably get on that."  
As Fred bounced downtown, Mini-Max activated his small wings and thrusters, " _Mini-Maximum damage control!_ "

On the streets, a figure was stealing money from a parking meter, Mini-Max landed behind him. " _I will cross-check physical characteristics against my criminal database!_ " The figure dropped all the coins.  
"No need Mini-Max!" Fred landed in front, "right, Globby?" He narrowed his eyes at the glob monster with a ski mask atop his head.  
"Globby? I don't know who you're talking about," he replied in a bad Cockney accent.  
"That ski mask isn't fooling anyone Globby, we can see your entire body." Fred pointed a claw at him, "oh, and you call that a Cockney accent?" He then started speaking in a bad Cockney accent, "I can do better guv'nor!"

" _Both your accents were highly inaccurate!_ " Mini-Max commented.  
Globby sneered at him, "well sorry! I've never been to Cockney."  
"And this ski mask is..because I heard it might snow!" Globby turned his body into a snowball, then rolled down the street.

" _You cannot roll away from justice!_ "  
"Don't worry Mini-Max," Fred walked to his sidekick, "Fredzilla's all over this!" He leapt after Globby.

" _And I am all over Fredzilla!_ " Mini-Max followed, as Fred chased the snowball into an alleyway. Mini-Max made sure to do damage control for any of his wayward attacks, from shielding a car from fire to intercepting a wrecking ball.

"Nowhere to go snowball!" Fred stood in front of the alley, "give it up!"  
Globby's head popped out of the snow, "never!"

"Have it your way," he breathed fire at him but the glob monster turned into fire himself, and swallowed up the blast.

Globby smirked, he belched a small small, "ah, spicy," he then rocketed at Fred, knocking him to the ground and smoke steamed from the suit. "Turns out you can fight fire with fire." As he was about to engulf him in flames, his trusty sidekick arrived.  
" _Mini-Maximum extinguisher!_ " The small robot blasted Globby with a fire extinguisher, turning him back to his violet globby color.

"You haven't seen the last of me," he narrowed his eyes and swung away, cackling as he escaped.

" _I successfully averted all Fred-related disasters,_ " the small robot declared.

"Yeah that's not really a sidekick sorta line," Fred lifted his suit's helm, "but nice hustle out there!"  
"We make a great team Mini-Max! Are you feeling it?!" He was pumped.  
" _I feel nothing. I am a robot._ "  
"You will, before we know it. We're going to be…" he gestured to Mini-Max, who shook his claw, "...finishing each other's sentences."  
"Don't worry, we'll get there." Fred smirked, "come on, Mini-Maximum fist bump?"

" _Mini-Maximum fist bump!_ " he fist-bumped him, which turned into a rocket fist and knocked Fred to the other side of the street.

"Ow! Maybe we do a Mini-Medium fist bump next time?"

* * *

Next morning at the robotics lab, Gogo, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi were doing some work. As Wasabi was placing the tools on his desk, Gogo rolled over, bumping on the desk, moving his tools, grabbed one, and popped her gum.

"Uh, Granville update, everybody," Hiro walked into the lab, Ari trailing behind him like a little puppy, "totally, up to something!"  
"Mysterious past, mysterious work in the lab, and a mysterious visit to Good Luck Alley." He walked past Wasabi's desk, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Ari hummed in agreement.

"That is a lot of mystery," Gogo nodded, behind her Baymax in a trenchcoat moved some of Wasabi's tools back into their places.  
"What was she doing in Good Luck Alley?" The latter raised an eyebrow, he smiled seeing Baymax moving his tools to their spot but then frowned when noticing his disguise.  
"I don't know," Hiro was looking at the old SFIT yearbook again, "we got chased away by Yama and his thugs, before we could find out."  
"Good think you did too," Ari nodded, "when you put like that, I'm starting to get suspicious of your dean," she narrowed her eyes to the others, "and the old one..." she added under her breath.  
"What was that Ari-woah!" Hiro stopped at a page.  
"Hiro, what is it?" Honey Lemon turned to him.  
He narrowed his eyes, staring at a picture that included a familiar face, "I think I found someone who might have some answers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For-shadowy jokes, David's two cents on Akuma Island, a tense conversation next chapter about "you-know-who!"  
> At least Mini-Max has showed up, writing my cousin's fav character helps.


	41. Chapter 40: (Mini-Max) Callaghan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to get to the truth about Granville, Hiro has to confront a darker part of his past...

Ari watched as her brother got up, clutching the old yearbook in hand. He walked to the others, their voices in hushed whispers. Curious, she held out an ear, trying to catch tidbits of what they were whispering.  
"That is a bad-"  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'll be fine.."  
"No way-"  
"I mean she's getting curious-"  
They eventually saw that Ari was attempting to eavesdrop, Hiro cleared his throat and spoke first.

"Ari...why did you ask about the former dean of the school?" there was an edge to his voice.  
She tilted her head, "well, Karmi mentioned something like that but I wasn't sure if I got everything because she was acting odd about it-" Ari paused upon seeing Hiro's reaction, how his nostrils flared and his eyes burned. She vaguely wondered if she had thrown Karmi under the bus at that moment.  
"No one ever brought it up around you?" Fred turned to the others, they shook their heads.  
Hiro began to walk out of the lab, he gestured for her to follow, "c'mon."  
"Where are we going?" she glanced back at the others, then to him.  
"The truth."

* * *

He had a million thoughts racing in his head when discovering that picture, telling Ari about the past was not one of them. As he entered his lab, he glanced at the picture of him and Tadashi next to the computer.

"Did I say something wrong?" Ari looked like a sad puppy left in the rain when she entered the lab, "Karmi told me to never ask you or the others questions.." If there was one thing to thank his classmate for, it was telling her that at the least.  
"There's a reason, and it's not a good one." Hiro took a seat on his chair, and took a deep breath.  
"The old dean of the school was named Professor Robert Callaghan," he felt bile rise up as he spoke that name aloud.  
"And?" Ari stared at him with her curious blue eyes.  
"I first met him when Tadashi showed me his 'nerd school' the first time, and I was just..so happy when he handed me my application letter to SFIT after the showcase," he rubbed his eyes, "but then..there was a fire." His sister gasped with horror, concluding what he was about to say next, "he was still in there, and Tadashi ran in to save him.."  
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he felt himself being pulled into a hug, "that must've been horrible."  
"It gets worse," he sighed, "weeks afterward... there was a villain, who attacked Krei-Tech."  
"How mean!" Ari gasped, "were Big Hero 6 there to stop him?"  
He nodded, "and when it was all said and done... the identity of the villain was Callaghan himself."  
"No!"  
"Yeah, he used the fire to steal my microbot invention I made to get his revenge on Krei for what happened to his daughter, and after I er… the leader of Big Hero 6 rescued her from an alternate dimension he was arrested," he then showed her the picture in the yearbook. "And now I'm going to have to question him for information about Professor Granville."

"No way am I letting you go alone!" Ari crossed her arms, "that was awful, I can't believe he did that to you, I just-"  
"Ariel!" she paused, seeing the water accumulate in his eyes, "just..I'd like a shoulder to cry on, after I'm done questioning.."  
"Oh," she hugged him again, "I'm sorry.."  
"It's-it's fine, I'm doing my best to move on," Hiro wiped a tear, "I figured one of the others would tell you but… we all were hurt, and I guess none of us wanted to relieve it." Even if he didn't tell her all of it, the pain felt like shards of glass in his chest.

"No wonder you didn't tell me.." Ari's gaze darkened, "what a monster.."  
"Yeah," he sighed.

* * *

Hiro had driven to the prison, he placed his helmet in a pouch. He hadn't checked up on the others back in the lab, but he did send a text that he was alright.  
"I'll try to be quick," he told Ari, who was guarding the moped while he went inside.  
"Just so you know, the sooner you finish, the sooner I will give you a dozen hugs," she promised.  
"Half a dozen..?"  
"Fine." He chuckled, waving her goodbye as he went inside. Soon enough, he was entering a solitary confinement room. In it, one prisoner.

Yokai, Callaghan, the monster who took his big brother away.

"Professor Granville," his throat felt dry, "you worked with her 20 years ago?"

"She was an excellent teacher," he almost flinched at hearing Callaghan's voice. "It was a shame the way she left."  
"What happened?" Hiro rubbed his wrist.  
"She was in the lab after-hours, something went wrong," Callaghan looked down.  
"There was..an incident."  
Hiro raised an eyebrow, "what kind of incident?"  
"Officially, a pipe burst, but there were rumors. An unsanctioned project gone wrong."  
"So she was fired."  
"She resigned, the matter was not pursued further, that's all I know." Well, it was better than nothing.  
"This is helpful, thank you Professor Callaghan," Hiro began to exit.  
"Hiro!" He stopped.

"I never thanked you for saving my Abigail," Hiro didn't turn to face the man, he thought back to the pilot, Callaghan's daughter, the one he and Baymax saved at the cost of the robot's original body.

"I'm-I'm glad she's okay."  
"I never set out to hurt anyone," Callaghan looked sadly at the picture of Abigail attached to the wall.

"What happened to Tadashi because of me.." Hiro's eyes went wide at the mention of his late brother, "I know it's not enough, but I'm sorry."  
Hiro..didn't know what to say, he kept thinking of Call-no Yokai's words back on Akuma Island.

_I had your microbots_

_Give me the mask Hiro._

_That was his mistake!_

Finally, he spoke, "Tadashi would've um, wanted me to forgive you." Hiro exhaled sharply, "someday I hope I can." And he didn't look back as he left, leaving Callaghan alone.

* * *

The moment Ari saw him holding back his sobs was the moment she zipped over and engulfed him into a hug.

"It's okay Hiro, it's over now," she squeezed him tight, and he let out his bottled emotions. Hiro sobbed into his sister's sweater.

"I just-I miss him so much," tears streamed down his cheeks, "and-why'd he have to go."

"I know Hiro… I know."  
"Y-you should've gotten the chance to meet him, he would've..." he sniffled, "he would've loved you Ari… It's not fair."  
She didn't reply, but continued to hug him, her hands wrapped around his jacket. "There there… let it all out.."  
He continued crying for a while, until his eyes and nose were puffy, his tears had dried up and his cheeks were red. His throat felt dry from wailing, but he continued to hug her. Fearing that if he let go, he'd lose her like he lost Tadashi.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: I am in pain

Honey Lemon: Are you okay?

Rachel Rosemary: NO

Rachel Rosemary: I'm just sad ;-;

Hiro Hamada: Mood

TheLittleMermaid: Mood

Sienna Kline: I am doing a concern

Fredzilla: Hope everyone stops feeling sad soon : (

Fredzilla: Today is just sad day

Sara Ferns: SAD DAY C,APCA[

TheLittleMermaid: I suddenly feel better

Fredzilla: It worked! Magic!

Rachel Rosemary: You are not a wizard

Fredzilla: What are you a professional wizard or something so you can confirm?

Rachel Rosemary: Yes

Sienna Kline:

Hiro Hamada:  
TheLittleMermaid:

Sara Ferns: wow

Fredzilla: ….idk how to respond to that

* * *

Later that night, Hiro drove to SFIT. He entered the school by crawling through the ventilation system, _there's only one way I can find out what Granville's doing._

He stopped at a vent, _and that's by investigating myself._ Hiro pulled a tool out of his pocket to unscrew the vents, but just as he finished and put it away, the vent fell to the floor, clattering. He winced at the sound. Hiro glanced to see if anyone would come, after a while he leapt to the ground.

As he began to walk the halls, something beeped behind him. A circular robot, " _Threat detected. Threat detected._ " The robot's green eye turned red, it spun and leaped, activating it's four mechanical legs. Hiro gasped as two more robots arrived behind him, in fear he picked up the vent and used it as a shield. Shuddering as they surrounded him.

A figure emerged from the dark, "it looks like we've located the threat," Granville declared.

"So that's what you've been doing," Hiro narrowed his eyes, "killer spider robots?" He gestured to the robots beside the dean.  
"Stand down," she told the robots, and their eyes turned back to their green.

" _Authority recognized._ "  
"They're part of the school's new security upgrade," Granville explained, he was still skeptical.  
Hiro held up his vent shield up to the robots rolling away, "seriously?"  
"Yes." She walked up to him, "San Fransokyo has had a rise in criminal activity lately, perhaps you've noticed."

He sweatdropped, "not really, I've-I've been so focused on my studies." He tossed the vent and chuckled nervously.  
Granville raised an eyebrow at him, Hiro just glanced around, "so uh..how do you make those spider robots work?"  
She sighed, "follow me Mr. Hamada."

He followed Granville to a computer room, the same room he saw her go in when he snuck into the labs. "Sweet, so, this is the brains behind the 'bots?" His hands brushed the control panel.

"Yes, I'm programming the system to detain intruders," she stated. "Like say, a reckless student bringing in after-hours."  
Hiro's eyes widened, he backed away from the panel, realizing what trouble he was in. "Oh no I was just-" he stammered.  
"Save it, Mr. Hamada!" Granville held up a hand, "we'll deal with your punishment in the morning." Behind them a security bot rolled into the room.

"But-"  
"Not another word Mr. Hamada."

Unknown to either of them, through the eyes of the security bot, it was hacked, on the other hand was a familiar supervillain eavesdropping. With a flick of the wrist he had the bot deem Hiro as a threat.

" _Threat detected. Threat detected,_ " the robot's eyes turned red, pointing a laser at Hiro.

He sweatdropped, "is it supposed to do that?"  
"No." Granville frowned, "stand down!"  
" _Authority not recognized._ " She frowned, turning to the control panel and attempting to fix it.

"I can't override it, you must have triggered the system before it was ready."  
"Oh! So it's my fault, right." Hiro shrugged.

" _Threat detected._ " Two more security bots came in and pointed lasers at Granville.  
He turned to them, "wait, the system sees you as a threat too?" That shouldn't be possible.  
"Apparently so."  
"Oh ha-ha great, um.." he stammered, walking up to the control panel, "I think I can fix the code."  
Before he could, a security bot attacked him, Granville pushed him out of the way as the control panel broke. Two bots were next to them.  
"Um, now what?"  
"Run!" Granville exclaimed, they bolted out of the room as the security bots crawled after them. Hiro gasped as they reached a dead end, Granville used her ID to open a door next to them and they ran inside. As she blocked the door he pulled out his phone.  
"I need backup at school now!" He called Fred's computer, his voice pleading.

" _Hiro?_ " Honey Lemon and the others walked up to the computer, behind him Granville was struggling to keep the bots out.

"Mr. Hamada! I could use some assistance!"  
" _Wait, Granville's with you?_ " Gogo questioned.  
" _Don't you think she'd recognize us?_ "  
" _Nobody recognizes us in our gear,_ " Wasabi pointed out.  
" _I bet she would._ "  
" _Looks like it's up to you and me Mini-Max!_ " Fred exclaimed, the small robot dashed around the room.

" _I have been programmed to increase vocal volume in this situation,_ " Mini-Max stated, " _Mini-Maximum justice!_ "  
Fred laughed, " _I'm living my best life!_ "  
Hiro turned his attention back to the bots trying to break into the room, "come asap!" He closed the phone and began dragging a nearby desk to block the door.

However one desk wasn't enough, so he and Granville got all of the desks in the room and started blockading the door. Once there were enough desks, they both gave sighs of relief.

* * *

"I need to exercise more," he panted, sitting down on one of the desks, Granville took a seat next to him.  
"So, Mr. Hamada, enlighten me, why have you been spying on me?" She questioned.

Hiro gave a nervous chuckle, _how did she know?!_ "Spying? On you?" He glanced away, "No I haven't been spying on you."  
Granville didn't buy it, "Good Luck Alley? Where I was purchasing parts for these security bots."  
"In my defence that place has a bad reputation," he pointed out, "so I've been spying on you. But for good reason!" He pulled out his phone.  
"I found out you taught here before." Hiro showed her the picture seen in the yearbook, which had the school faculty from 20 years ago. "So I went to see Professor Callaghan, to find out why you left."  
"I see," she raised an eyebrow, Granville looked away, her gaze distant. "Well, it seems I have to work harder to gain your trust," she turned to him, "why don't I start by telling you what really happened?"  
"Y-you will?" Hiro gasped, "I'd like that."

"It was back when Professor Ferns herself was a student at SFIT." Granville smiled fondly at the memory, "there was a young student, a genius. I believed without limit, he would achieve great things. I granted this young genius free reign of the lab, even after-hours."  
Hiro blinked, Granville did all of that for a student? He wondered if Professor Ferns knew him, _so I might ask her._

"I was unaware that his experiment was extremely dangerous. It went awry, the boy survived, but barely. I covered for the student, telling the authorities it was my work. In a way, it was my work."  
He gasped, "I'm so sorry," Hiro gazed at the ground, "th-that happened."  
"See, as a teacher I failed," Granville sighed. "Students need limits, even geniuses," she smiled at him, he smiled back.

The touching moment was ruined by the security bots breaking the door open and knocking them to the ground.

Hiro gasped as a security bot crawled towards the dean, "look out!"  
"I'm stuck!" Granville was trapped under the desks, Hiro ran at the security bot, jumping on top of it. It knocked him to the ground and pinned him, he whimpered as it beeped and whirred.

* * *

In the control room, Mini-Max and Fred punched a vent open and entered the room.

" _Mini-Maximum justice!_ " the small robot and the comic fan landed on the ground. In a room still full of security bots.  
" _Threat detected, threat detected_ ," the spider-like robots turn to Fred and Mini-Max, the former whimpers and curls into a corner due to his arachnophobia.

One of the bots leapt at them, " _Mini-Maximum punch!_ " Mini-Max punched it against the machine, as more bots leapt at him he deflected their blows. Fred kept wheezing and staring as he stared at the spider-like robots.  
" _Fred, distract the security bots while I destroy the CPU,_ " Mini-Max told him.

He took a deep breath, "so they're not spiders, they're killer robots, good. Wait no! Is that better?"

Mini-Max charged at the bots, " _Mini-maximum smash! Mini-maximum launch! Mini-maximum-_ " a claw pins him to the machine, " _pinned._ "  
" _You must proceed heroically without me,_ " Mini-Max tells Fred.  
"But I don't know if I can do this without you!" He dodges the lasers from the bots.  
" _Fred, believe in yourself, like I do._ "

"You actually believe in me?"  
" _You're all we got._ "

Fred smirks, "propping' up the hero with cliched nonsense? Nice Mini-Max! You side-kicked this situation perfectly!" He gets hit by a bot.  
"Okay Fred, think, how do you defeat a security system that thinks everything is a threat?" He knocks away the bots pinning him down. "By threatening me, the security system is a threat to the school, because I'm here to protect the school." The bots flicker from red to green, "so, to defeat all threats to the school, the security system must fight itself."  
" _Threat detected._ "  
"But, if it fights itself, then that's also a threat, so it must fight the part of itself that's threatening the part that's not a threat."  
" _Warning: Fatal logic error. Warning: Fatal logic error._ "  
"But the threat in that is figuring out which is the non-threatening part."  
" _Logic circuit overload. Logic circuit overload. Logic cirl-_ " the CPU sizzled, powering down as the bots shut off.

In another room, Hiro and Granville batted away the deactivated security bots, wondering what shut them down.

Fred stood in awe at the pile of deactivated security bots.

" _Fred you did it!_ " Mini-Max exclaimed, " _you confused the security system so greatly, it terminated itself!_ "

"I did," he placed two claws to his helm, "I mean, sh-yeah," he removed the helm. "It is the Fredzilla way, you know."  
Mini-Max leapt to his side, " _contrary to previous data, you are a great hero!_ "  
"That's my sidekick!" They both exchange fist bumps, "Mini-Maximum justice!" and laugh, but Mini-Max continues to laugh. Fred smiles as he stares.  
"You laugh funny."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sienna Kline: HL thank you for your advice on dealing with those thieves

Sienna Kline: I have my precious sketches back : D

Honey Lemon: Yay!

Gogo: Good to hear

Sara Ferns: "Best news all day" -David

Honey Lemon: Btw Sienna, your art is very lovely, how did you get so good at watercolors?

Sienna Kline: Practice!

Gogo: Everyone says that

Sienna Kline: And some online tutorial videos I've watched at 2 AM

Sara Ferns: "I'm concerned" -David

Honey Lemon: Does watching at 2 AM help?

Sienna Kline: It burns into your memory

Sienna Kline: It burns

Sara Ferns: Please get some sleep

* * *

"Spider robots? Seriously?"  
"Yes Ari! There were spider robots!"  
"And I thought the last spider robot story you told me was whack... until you showed me evidence of course," Ari widened her eyes at Hiro, "where's the proof?"  
"Follow me and you'll see," they were walking down SFIT's halls. Hiro wanted to talk to Granville about last night's events. He brought his sister along, so he could tell her about his "heroic" tale.  
"Hey um, next time you do something dumb, bring me along," Ari requested, "so at least I can enjoy the experience with you."  
"What?" Hiro narrowed his eyes, she sighed.  
"Okay you got me..I just hope if I come along..it'll jog up memories," she placed a hand to her head, "I've still been having bad dreams..dreams of red.."  
Hiro patted her on the shoulder, "we all get bad dreams, I've been there."

Ari frowned, she then turned to her left, where a student was walking past them, "hey Karmi!"

_Oh noo.._ Hiro groaned, the biotech major hadn't spoken a word to him since in a moment of emotional distress, he hugged her, they had been avoiding each other since then.  
"Uh, hey," Karmi awkwardly waved, "didn't know you were visiting today.."  
"Uh-huh! And I'm with Hiro!" she gestured to her brother.  
"Mhmm," he glanced away, he did not want to do this right now.

Ari noticed the teen's reluctance, and huffed, "oh come on! You guys are dramatic! Was the hug thing that bad?!"  
"What hug thing?" Hiro blurted, "no hug thing happened... because _it will never happen again_." he emphasized.

Karmi got what he was trying to say, "yeah... and if it did ever happen... I wouldn't like it, so there."  
"Well glad we can agree on that," he huffed, "because it hypothetically would be a spur of the moment!"  
"Yes, exactly," Karmi crossed her arms.  
Ari sighed, she brought her hand to her head, "I am done with you both... just... why." she mumbled, then turned to Karmi, "hey can I borrow you for a second?" she turned to her brother, "go on without me."  
"Fine," Hiro began to walk away, but he turned to Karmi, "but I'll say it again..thanks for looking after my sister."  
"No problem," Karmi shrugged, "anyone else would've done it.."  
"Still... I appreciate it," he smiled-wait what was he doing? "Well gotta run!" And he continued walking down the hallway, and trying to calm down his heart rate.  
Ari looked at him leaving with a puzzled look on her face, "huh."

* * *

Hiro entered the control room as Granville was sweeping up the mess, "uh that was pretty crazy Professor Granville."  
She picked up a few fallen books, "indeed Mr. Hamada, indeed."

He took a few steps forward, "Professor, I, uh.." he rubbed the sleeve of his jacket.  
"Yes Mr. Hamada?"  
"I know I take risks and you-you think I'm reckless," he trips up on some rubble and knocks a beaker over, the glass shattering. He gave an awkward laugh.  
"Yes, I do," she didn't spare him a glance, he didn't blame her.  
"I just want you to know I'm not gonna end up like him."  
That got her to glance at him, "who?"

He frowned, "your former student." As he stated that, he saw her eyes slightly widened, but her expression didn't change.

"We're done here, Mr. Hamada," she turned to the broom on the wall and began sweeping. He rubbed his jacket sleeve, smiling, and exited the room.  
As he closed the door, Granville glanced over, a fond smile on her face.

* * *

But as she swept, one of the security bot's lenses was watching her. On the other side of those lenses, was Obake. He narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows lowered, his expression contained nothing but anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Plays sad music with a kazoo* Well that happened.
> 
> Next week will be a little brighter because y'know...
> 
> Writing Hiro and Ari being sad isn't fun tho : (. At least it's over


	42. Chapter 41: (Big Hero 7) Electric Comeback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face causes distress.

"Mika… can you tell me where we're going?" the unofficial Fern kid was dragging David, the youngest, somewhere. She couldn't tell him, but his pestering was beginning to wear down on her.  
"It's a surprise!" she chuckled, leading him to a secret entrance, at least Mikan didn't have to blindfold him- _okay that was cruel,_ she told herself, _but he'll thank me later for this_.  
"Give me a hint, please," David's ears perked up, "are we underwater?"

"Close, elevator to the water," Mikan pointed out, watching the fish swim by, "you can always ask me to bring you by the way."  
"Like how you and Ari go on trips together?" David raised an eyebrow.  
"Yep!" she lied, _technically Ari has me drive her to visit her hopeless crush, but sure, it's trips._ The elevator stopped, "so, how have things been with your mom?"  
"Oh uh, Sally and I went out to eat the other day-"  
"I mean Momakase." She rolled her eyes, "does she even know you refer to Sally as mom?"  
David huffed, "she does!...but I haven't talked to her since she escaped from prison, but I'm mad at her." _Odd.._ Mikan hummed.  
"What? Did she hurt a security guard in her escape or something?"  
"No, she-"  
"Oh look, we're here!" Mikan shoved him into another room, he yelped as he was pushed in. She watched him sniff the air and try to hear his surroundings. The room was a small, miniature kitchen that had seen better days. There was a person working by the counter, none other than recently escaped mercenary/sushi chef herself, Momakase, or in David's case-

"Mother?" he gasped, Momakase stopped cutting fish, she almost dropped her graphene knife at the sound of David's voice.

"David.."

"..Am I dreaming?"  
"Nope," Mikan gave him a hard pinch on the shoulder.  
"Ow!"  
"My dad hired her as a chef, her food is rather killer, and part of that deal was some well-earned family bonding," she nudged him to the counter, "just let me know, I'll drop anything so you can visit your mom at any time."

Mikan stepped to the side, watching as David debated on his next move. After an eternity of silence, David wrapped his arm around his mom's torso. Momakase had the warmest smile she had ever seen as she returned the hug, droplets of tears trailed down her cheek.  
"I missed hugging you like this," Momakase told him.  
"I know.." David then let go, "Wait Mika..your dad hired her?"  
"Yep," Mikan shrugged.  
"Did he..break her out?"  
"Can't confirm or deny," _why was he acting weird..shouldn't he be happy?_

David crossed his arms, "did he also tell her to freaking kidnap some of our friends as superhero bait to Akuma Island?!"

"Um…" Mikan wondered how he knew about that, "no hard feelings to your mom..orders are orders."  
"Mika!" David clenched his teeth, "Karmi and Ari could've died!" he then turned to his mom, "please don't threaten my classmates ever again please."  
"I will make a note of that in the future," Momakase replied, who was also shocked by his outburst.  
She huffed, _always so heroic..he'd be a great superhero,_ Mikan thought sarcastically. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "David..bro..buddy, it was for the greater good, my dad's got something that'll help me, and you and Sara's future..the Akuma Island thing won't happen again."  
He frowned, "what are you talking about?"  
"The future!" Mikan exclaimed, "by the way, please don't tell Sara, she's so sensitive, and it'd hurt her feelings. Not to mention Steven and Sally would flip, plus it might put your mom back in jail," she gestured to Momakase, "you want to give her hugs, right?"

"You watch your words," she narrowed her eyes at Mikan.

"Just saying!"  
David sighed, looking glum, "right..I won't tell."  
She ruffled his hair, "don't be blue!" Mikan bounced out of the room, "gotta report to my dad, until then, enjoy catching up with your mom!" There was a grin on her face as she left, _he'll get over it..Not that it's completely horrible, sometimes you gotta do bad things for the greater good after all._

David just sighed, "no wonder she's acting weird.." he mumbled. He then turned to his mom, "hey uh..do you need any help cooking?"  
Momakase gave him a small smile, "I'd like that son," she gave him a pat on the shoulder, he chuckled, feeling better than he had been in weeks. He'd have time to ponder his sister's weird behavior later, right now he just wanted to make up for lost time with his mother.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: You know what I miss

Rachel Rosemary: New York's really good pizza

Hiro Hamada: Oh yeah! They have really good pepperoni!

Fredzilla: Hiro! You said you've never been outside San Fransokyo

Hiro Hamada: By car : )

Gogo: Gotta admit, that's a good one

Rachel Rosemary: you've been to New York?

Hiro Hamada: Yeah to visit some relatives for holidays!

Wasabi: Cool

TheLittleMermaid: Oh that's awesome! New York must be cool in person!

Rachel Rosemary: It's awesome

Honey Lemon: Oooh maybe we could come with you on a trip!  
Hiro Hamada: I don't have enough money for those plane tickets

Rachel Rosemary: But I do : )

Mikan Ferns: Guys really, New York always has some vigilante menace making a mess every week, don't go there.

Sara Ferns: MIKA

Hiro Hamada: Hey watch it you're on thin ice Ferns

Mikan Ferns: I'm not scared of you

Rachel Rosemary: My vengeance will be swift

Mikan Ferns: OKAY I'M SORRY

* * *

It was afternoon at Krei-Tech, the automated doors opened as Ari entered the building, a small envelope in her hands.

"Excuse me?" she walked to the front desk, "do you know where Steven Ferns is?"  
"He's over there," the lady pointed to the mechanic, who was just about to exit the building. Ari thanked the lady and ran up to him.  
"Hey Steven!" she yelled, Steven froze in his tracks, covering his ears.  
"Oh hey uh..what can I do for you Ariel?" he questioned.

Ari held up the envelope, "I have a letter to you!"  
"From?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"Mikan! She told me to give it!"  
"Ah," Steven took the envelope, "thanks Ari."  
She smiled, "no problem I-"  
"Steven! There you are!" The moment Alistair Krei walked into the lobby, all of the employees started working like dogs, zipping and running around. "Just the person I was looking for! I need you to do something."  
"Mr. Krei, it's my lunch break," he sighed, Ari could feel the frustration coming from Steven. His eyebrows narrowed and his lip curled.

"I'll give you an extended break, I need you to watch my latest presentation and give a review before I deliver to the public." Ari raised her hand, "yes?"  
"Can I watch too?" she requested, "a public opinion might help you deliver a better presentation." Ari winked at Steven, he stared back with a look of surprise.  
Krei shrugged, "sure of course, why not," he then squinted, "aren't you that girl who follows Hiro Hamada around? His girlfriend?"  
Ari gagged, sticking her tongue out, "gross! No!"

"They're siblings," Steven explained, Krei didn't seem to pay attention.  
"Yeah sure, whatever," Krei began walking away, gesturing for the two to follow, "come on! I have a strict schedule to follow!"  
Steven just sighed as he and Ari began following the CEO, "I am not paid enough for this.." the mechanic mumbled.

Ari had to admit, Krei was great at delivering presentations. She'd buy the product if it wasn't so pricey. _Maybe since Steven works here and I know him, I could get a discount!_ She hummed, the mechanic however, just wanted the whole thing to be done with.

"And with this Krei-Tech miracle miro battery," Krei held up a small blue battery with the Krei-Tech symbol printed on it's side, "we will power the world! Together!" A recording of audience cheer played, signaling it was over.

Ari clapped with excitement, "awesome!" she hummed.  
Steven was clapping at a much slower pace, "it is a good presentation."  
"Thank you," Krei chuckled, then paused the recording on his phone.

"I'll take it!" exclaimed an unknown voice, Ari's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. But to her surprise, Steven also recognized it as well, he let out a sharp gasp, his eyes widened and his mouth parted open.

* * *

Krei squinted, seeing the woman who spoke in the far back, "uh ,you there! You shouldn't be in here, this is a closed rehearsal." he told her. "But don't worry, the battery will be available soon for purchase."

The woman leans forward, the auditorium light showing her light spiky blond hair, colorful purple and black outfit, and cocoa brown eyes. "Did I say purchase?" She backflips out of her seat and onto the stage, knocking Krei over and snatching the battery.  
"Pretty sure I said take it!" Barb, the mother from the mother-daughter duo High Voltage, exclaimed, holding the micro battery in her hands.  
Krei winced, "oww…"  
Then, another person backflips on stage, snatching the battery from Barb. "Ha!" Then Krei got up and snatched the battery back. "Aha!"

Ari knew that sassy voice all too well, the newcomer was a young girl, a bit older than Ari herself. With dark blonde hair, a colorful purple and pink outfit, and warm cocoa brown eyes that made her swoon.  
"Juniper?" Barb was surprised to see her daughter, "what are you doing here?"

The crime-dancer narrows her eyes at her mother, "could you please tell Barb who I'm not speaking to because she betrayed our mother-daughter bond-" she spins on stage, gesturing to Krei, "that I am taking the battery!"

The CEO was puzzled, "Mother?" he looked back and forth to the two members of High Voltage, who narrowed their eyes at him. "I don't believe you," he scoffed.  
Juniper then kicks him to the side, snatching the battery out of his hands and Krei finds himself wincing from pain on the ground a second time. "Yeah, I feel the resemblance.."

Neither of them on stage notice Ari and Steven in the peanut gallery. The mechanic was frozen silent and watching the fight with a lamentful gaze. Ari meanwhile had a hamster wheel going off in her head, last she checked both of them were still in jail. _How did they get out? Were they released or did they break out? Doesn't matter because oh my god I did not expect them to show up and Juniper is looking beautiful as ev-FOCUS ARI,_ she placed a hand to her cheek to stop blushing. It didn't work.

"Young lady, you give me that right now," Barb demanded.  
"No mother, not after what you did! This battery's mine!" Juniper exclaimed, she then frowned, "not that you care about that.."  
"Just what is that supposed to mean?"  
"You know exactly what it means."  
Barb had no time for this right now, "Juniper, cut the sass and give me the battery!"  
"Never!" And the two of them start a tug-of-war over the battery, however the moment that happened a sharp pain went to Ari's head. Her vision turned red for a split second, she groaned and covered her head.

Krei got up again, staring at the fight, "okay I know I shouldn't say this but there's another battery right there." He gestured to the display pillar with a second micro battery, both of them stare at it. Barb is the one who reacts first, leaping into the air, knocking the pillar over and swiping the battery.

"This is not how I raised you to steal things!" And she made her escape with the micro battery.  
"I'm my own crime-dancer now mother!" Juniper called after her, she inserted the battery into her gauntlet, it hummed to life. "It'll do for now," she tosses an electric kiss to Krei and backflips offstage, also making her escape.

"Excuse me for a second," Ari got up and started running in the direction Juniper exited. As she left, Steven got upstage and walked to his boss, who was a little shell-shocked.  
Krei pulled out his phone, "I should call my mom," as he began ringing he noticed Steven's expression. "What's gotten into you?"  
"Oh uh.." Steven glanced, "nothing, it's nothing." He sighed.

* * *

Ari did not expect Juniper to able to run so fast, then again, at least she was fast enough. Though a part of her wished the crime-dancer would slow down so she could catch up!

"Juniper!" Ari called after her, "slow down!" She was still following her a block away from Krei-Tech, and Ari was starting to feel the fatigue.  
"JUNIPER!" that got her attention. The crime-dancer whirled her head around, very shocked to see Ari panting after her

"..Ari?" she gasped, "how did you.."  
"Long story..was at the auditorium..head hurts," Ari wheezed, "why..are..you..going..solo?" she fell to the ground in a dramatic manner, "why do you run fast?"  
Juniper sighed, sitting next to her on the ground, "I would've slowed down, If I knew you were behind me." She started fanning the exhausted girl with her hands, around the area where her face was dark crimson red. "Jeez maybe you should stop wearing such a thick sweater, you're getting cooked!"  
Ari gave a nervous chuckle, "I like this sweater though.." she placed a hand to her head, "ow.."  
"Is your head okay?" Juniper frowned, "are you remembering something?"  
"I don't know..I see red, it hurts my head," she groaned, "owww.."  
"Yeah you rhyming is a sign you're not feeling well."  
"Juniper I don't feel so good.."

The crime-dancer had a look of concern on her face, "oh no," she pressed her hand to Ari's forehead, and placed another to her neck.

"Are you checking my pulse?"

"A little," she was conscious enough to notice her friend's worry.  
"Hey, June I'm not dying," Ari sat up, the pain fading from her head, "just a bad headache..note to self take some aspirin later.." She felt better when seeing her friend's sigh of relief, "um… what was the deal with your mom?"  
Juniper frowned, crossing her arms, "I don't want to talk about it, not with you," she turned away. Ari was surprised at her negative attitude.  
"What exactly caused you and Barb to argue so much?" She questioned, "seriously I think you guys were bickering before Big Hero 6 busted you!"  
"Don't remind me of that," Juniper rubbed her arm, "that goop was so itchy.." she brushed away a tuft of her purple highlights that was covering her warm cocoa brown eyes, Ari couldn't help but marvel at her beauty. She felt her heartbeat quicken and her blush deepened in color. Juniper noticed her gawking, "are you sure you're okay? You have something… on your face..."  
"Oh um." Ari covered her cheeks, "don't judge my sweating!" The buzzing of her phone saved her from having to come up with another excuse, she pulled it out of her pocket to look at the news report.

" _Bad news, San Fransokyo,_ " Bluff Dunder reported, next to him were images of a certain mother-daughter duo's arrest, " _infamous mother-daughter duo, High Voltage, broke danced out of jail and are making a crime dance comeback._ "  
"Gee thanks," Ari sarcastically stated, she stopped when noticing Juniper giving her deadpan look, "sorry.." she sheepishly chuckled, "I have Big Hero 6 news alerts on, so.." her friend continued to stare at her. "Geez why are you pretty when you're mad.." she muttered.  
"What was that?" Juniper raised an eyebrow.  
"Nothing I said nothing!" Ari blushed, "I um... better head back home, or else my brother is going to call the superheroes themselves to look for me."  
Her friend nodded, "alright, uh, see you later I guess.." and she bounced away before Ari could say another word.

* * *

The news report was playing in the Lucky Cat cafe when she returned home, her head was still throbbing so she took a seat by the counter.  
"I get the crime," she heard Gogo comment, "I don't get the dance."  
"See, I get the dance, I don't get the crime," Wasabi noted. Her brother and his friends were sitting at one of the tables enjoying lunch, her head pounded, _I hope Baymax has aspirin on hand…_ the chiming of the door brought her attention. She groaned as a familiar obnoxious eleven year-old in the form of Richardson Mole entered the cafe.

" _-Big Hero 6?_ " Baymax lifted a hand, Ari leaned in, wondering if the group were talking about the superheroes.

"What about Big Hero 6?" Unfortunately for them, Richardson was also eavesdropping.

Fred, who was between Hiro and Honey Lemon spoke first, "nothing!" his shouting surprised the two. "Why do you wanna know Mole?"  
"Because if there's something you want to know about Big Hero 6, I'm the one to ask." Richardson gestured to himself, "I'm kind of an expert."

Ari scoffed, _I think that title goes to Karmi Khan..she knows everything about them! Well almost, because nobody knows their identities._  
"Right," Gogo shoved her straw in Richardson's mouth to shut him up. But he pulled it out and inched closer to her.  
"I see I've piqued your interest Dream Girl, I'm not just a superhero expert, I know villains too," he boasted. "High Voltage, Glooby-"

"Globby!" Fred and Ari exclaimed, the latter placing her hands on the table and leaping forward. "Um, I'm I-I mean, I believe it is pronounced 'Globby,'"

"And I know more about High Voltage than you can comprehend," Ari sneered, her hostile attitude towards the obnoxious boy was surprising, but not shocking to the others.

"Stay in your lane Fred!" Richardson snapped, "It's definitely Glooby."  
"Uh no, it's not, the man's a giant glob. Thus, his name is Glob-by, he's not a giant gloob." Fred sarcastically stated.  
"You don't know what you're talking about."  
"Oh I know exactly what I'm talking about."  
"No you don't!"  
"Yes I do!"  
"You're ruining my lunch serenity guys," Wasabi told them, holding up his sandwich.  
"Yeah, move along Richardson," Fred waved his hand, "this is my side of town."  
"So get out," Ari rasped, "we don't want you here." She stuck her tongue out at him.  
"You have sides?" Honey Lemon raised an eyebrow.

Richardson smirked, "not for long, I'm buying the lot next door. It will soon be home to the Mole Museum of Superhero History," he pulled out blueprints.

"Great we're having such wonderful neighbors moving in," Ari muttered under her breath, Hiro snickered.  
Fred had a more vocal reaction, "a superhero museum?! That was my idea!"  
"Was not!"  
"Uh-huh!"  
"Stop, just stop." Gogo gestured with her hands, Richardson took one.  
"Sure, anything for you Dream Girl," he puckered his lips and attempted to kiss her hand.  
"I wouldn't," she narrowed her eyes.  
"Someday," he whispered softly as he began walking out of the cafe.

"Uhg," Gogo crossed her arms, Fred grumbled at the door Richardson left in.  
"I hate that kid," he sat down and growled.  
"I don't like how he treats Gogo," Ari turned to her friend, "I'm sorry."  
"Eh, you didn't do anything kiddo," Gogo patted her head, "thanks though."  
"You really shouldn't let him get to you Freddie," Honey Lemon told him.  
"He's just trolling you, do not engage," Wasabi added.  
Fred just curled his lip in response. Ari glanced back at the tv, which now was talking about the weather, "so uh… speaking of superheroes, how long do you think it'll take for them to catch High Voltage this time?"

Her friends gave awkward glances, "I dunno." Hiro shrugged, "two days?"  
"I hope not," Ari pouted, her statement shocked the others.  
"Ari, what makes you say that?" Honey Lemon tilted her head.  
"It's because of her stupid crush on Juniper." Gogo rolled her eyes.  
"Hey! It's not stupid!" she barked, "but I'm just uh… thinking… that maybe… I might have a chance?" her voice turned squeaky and high-pitched as she sank down into her seat.  
Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose, "Ari…" he sighed, "I thought you got over your crush at this point."  
"Are you guys being mean about it because I'm crushing on a girl?" she demanded, she was just pushing their buttons with that one.

A chorus of "no!" and "no way!" followed after her question.  
"You'd know that us of all people wouldn't be mean about it," Gogo told her, "we're just worried because your crush is a literal criminal."  
"She's not on Momakase levels of evil," Ari stated.  
"She has a point," Wasabi whispered to Gogo.  
"Look, just don't do anything dumb." Hiro placed his hand next to hers, "you're not going to run into her at all anyways."  
 _That's what you think big brother,_ Ari thought to herself as she slurped her smoothie, _I might have to ask for a tracking animal though if I'm gonna find her…_

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sienna Kline: Hey guys did you see the news today?

Mikan Ferns: "I heard the news today," -David

Gogo: Haha very funny

Sienna Kline: XD, seriously, High Voltage broke out of jail!  
Honey Lemon: Yeah it's kind of scary!  
TheLittleMermaid: Not as scary when Momakase broke out though

Hiro Hamada: Ari -_-

TheLittleMermaid: Hey! I'm just saying!  
Sara Ferns: Speaking of that, my uncle was at Krei-Tech and then HV showed up and stole some batteries they were gonna be selling soon

Rachel Rosemary: :eyes:

Fredzilla: Ooooh! Why?

TheLittleMermaid: Because they don't have their orb

Sara Ferns: -_-

Hiro Hamada: -_-

TheLittleMermaid: Stop giving me those looks! You brought them up!  
Mikan Ferns: "Technically Sienna did" -David

Sienna Kline: I just brought it up because I kind of hope someone records another one of their performances so it's on the internet to enjoy

TheLittleMermaid: Omg same! High five!

Gogo: Oh my god there's two of them

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Hiro was at SFIT knocking on a person's lab door. It opened to reveal Sara on the other side, "oh, Hiro!" she was happy to see him, "what do you need?"  
"Some advice," he sighed, "can I come in?"  
"Yes of course, take a seat!" she nudged him into the lab and placed him on a stool, then handed him some crackers. "What can I help you with?"  
Hiro took a bite out of his snack, "well it's… Ari, I'm worried about her."  
"Awww," Sara pouted, "is it about her crush?"  
"A little," Hiro gestured, "I thought she was over it at this point but uh..recently I discovered she wasn't," he wasn't going to bring up the letters to Sara. Yes he was aware that before High Voltage broke out, his little sister was writing letters to them. She was not as sneaky as she thought, but it wasn't harmless so he let it be. "I'm worried she'll do something stupid, or something that'll get her hurt!"  
"Mhhm," Sara nodded, "I know that feeling, I am so worried for David all the time, and Mika too. They've both been acting..strange."

"Strange?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, he hadn't noticed. But Mikan had been pushing to spend more time with him and his friends, it was a little creepy to be honest. Her recent jabs at Big Hero 6 were also uncomfortable, almost as if she knew the superheroes (aka them) were going to hear that.

"Yeah, David with his mom and Mikan with her dad," Sara took a pot of tea, poured herself a cup, and took a sip, "so glad I don't have any villainous parents, but I guess my mother counts… uch," her hand briefly brushed the scars on her wrist at the memory. "I'm guessing Ari told you about David's mom at this point?"  
Hiro shook his head, "oh jeez, that's a shocker." Sara's eyes widened, "forget I mentioned that, but seriously, Mika's been acting weird. Between you and me I doubt she's going on shopping trips with Ari and then goes shopping herself afterwards, something's… fishy."  
"Mood," he sighed. "I wonder if this is how Tadashi felt when I used to go bot-fighting."  
Sara nodded vigorously, "oh yeah totally! He would come in here so many times I'd have a cup of tea waiting for him, and he'd go on a 20-minute tangent on how his brother could use his gift for something good instead of bot-fighting at three in the morn-" she stopped when seeing his gloomy expression, "sorry…"  
"It's okay," he sighed, "just… I miss him a lot."  
"Me too Hiro, me too," Sara stared at the ground. "He'd be proud of you, for going strong in school, and helping out Ari." Her gaze was gloomy. Hiro noticed her demeanor turned more sorrowful.

"He'd be proud of you too," he told her, "you're a good sister to David and Mika."  
A smile crept on Sara's face, "thanks buddy. Do you want some more honey tea?"

"Yes please."

* * *

_Later that night, at the police station.._

A police officer was working on his office, as his attention was turned to the computer, he didn't notice Barb behind the door. 'Nor did he recognize her in his sleep-deprived state when she entered the office.  
"Hi there," the officer stopped typing and swirled around.  
"Ma'am, you can't be in here."  
"I'm so sorry to bother you officer," Barb held up a battery, "but my little ol' GPS here, well, it just conked out, and I'm all turned around. Could you be a sweetheart and point me in the right direction?"

"Uh okay," the officer adjusted his hat, "where are you trying to go?"  
"Well thank you darling," she clapped her hands. "I'm trying to get.."

And zapped the poor officer out of his chair, "here." As the unlucky officer spun around the office while being shocked, Barb began searching through his computer until she found something. "Got it," once she found what she was looking for she swiped the man's ID and entered the evidence room.

"Come to.." she grabbed a box, opened it, and her eyes widened with horror as the box was empty. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" she tossed the box into the air, and it landed behind someone.  
"Having a bad day?" Barb turned to find the yellow and blue members of Big Hero 6, aka Gogo and Fred.

"Too bad, because it's about to get worse." Gogo charged at her, and she was bounced back with electricity.  
"Who's having a bad day now?" Barb taunted.  
"Still you!" Fred exclaimed, roaring fire at her but she dodged with ease, then shocked him, into the wall, "ohhhhh..and me."  
Gogo charged at her again, but this time Barb created an electric fence that zapped her as it came into impact, and she was stuck. She growled and gave the crime-dancer the evil eye.  
"Yeah sorry about that," Barb didn't look affected as she exited, "buh-bye!"  
Due to the electric fence blocking her path, Gogo was unable to pursue Barb.

"Great, High Voltage got away," she groaned.  
"Well technically half of High Voltage got away," Fred pointed out, "since they're clearly not working together according to the info from Krei-Tech."  
"Lucky us," Gogo rolled her eyes, it would be easier taking them one-on-one but having to chase two electric welding crime dancers separately was more annoying than fighting them both at the same time. She then noticed the evidence box "hmm.."  
"Since they're not working together..maybe we should call her Half Voltage! Or-ooh ooh I got it! Low Voltage, eh, ehhhh?" Fred rambled as she inspected the evidence box.

"Look," she held up the box, "it's empty."  
"Huh, why would Low Voltage-going with that name, want an empty box?" he questioned.  
Gogo tossed it to the side, "she didn't want the box Fred, she wanted whatever was in the box." There was only one thing that High Voltage would want to go to the police station for, something they had to get substitutes at Krei-Tech for until they found it, "their energy orb."  
"Ah, interesting theory Gogo," he hummed, "this requires research."  
"Research?" she raised an eyebrow, "like the time you thought Issue 188 had the answer to us beating them the first time?"  
"It worked!..Kind of…" Fred glanced away, "I might bring Ari though, I saw her eyeing some of the newer comic additions, might as well buy her a new copy while I'm at it." He noticed Gogo giving him a weird stare, "what's with the face?"  
"You're gonna spoil the kiddo if you keep buying her stuff," she pointed out, "first the phone and now comics?"  
"Hey! Even though Hiro calls her his little sister, she's kind of like the group's little sister too," Fred crossed his arms, "that and I need company when going into the territory of my arch-nemesis."  
"Of course you do.."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Hiro the aspirin isn't working

TheLittleMermaid: Help me

Hiro Hamada: Did Aunt Cass give you anything else?

TheLittleMermaid: Cold water just please have Baymax on standby when we get to school I'm dying here

Wasabi: Oh my god are you okay?!

Honey Lemon: I think it's another migraine

TheLittleMermaid: Wonderful observation!

Fredzilla: It's migraines

Sara Ferns: Jeez what's causing her migraines, wrong side of the bed?

Sienna Kline: Poor dear, get well soon Ari!  
Hiro Hamada: Baymax sends his concerns

TheLittleMermaid: thanks

* * *

"Ari you alright?" Fred had a look of concern seeing the girl's discomfort as she groaned and had a hand to her head, there was also a look of fear in her eyes which doubled his worries.  
"Yeah just..this is the most painful memory I'm remembering," she whined, "all I'm remembering is shouting and red, and feeling scared.."  
He gave her a pat on the shoulder, "it's okay Ari," he glanced at some of the more recent issues, "here, I'll buy you a set of comics you wanna buy, okay?"  
Her eyes lit up, "okay!" the pain seemed to subside from her head, "I'm gonna go pick something, they made some comics based off of New York's superheroes and I gotta grab some!" Fred chuckled seeing her run to the shelf and scan for whichever comic she desired to take home. Which also gave him time to do his research.

"Hmm," he drifted towards the villainous section, "the mother-daughter supervillain section is so vast." Fred hummed, "where to start?" His observation was interrupted by a familiar figure approaching his presence, he glanced down. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't soiling my comics with your finger dirt," Richardson stated, then turned to Ari, "or hers."  
"Rude!" Fred scoffed, "I wish you weren't soiling my life with your face."  
"Oh witty retort, not!" Richardson sarcastically stated.

"What? No! You cannot mock with a 'not' that's just-" he then noticed a particular picture on Richardson's wall, "wait, what is this?!"

"What does it look like," his arch-nemesis smirked.

On the wall, was a framed "autograph" to Richardson from-

"Wait, 'Lizard Guy' isn't even my-his name!" Fred exclaimed at the forged autograph, out of all the things he's seen Richardson do, this by far was the worst.

"Yes it is!" The argument was starting to lure Ari to the counter, already selecting her comics of choice. "For your information, I am a close personal friend of Big Hero 6."  
"No way!" Fred exclaimed, aware that Richardson was lying due to _himself_ being a member of Big Hero 6.  
"You're so full of it." Ari scoffed, "that's how you get kidnapped by villains."  
"Well you're as pleasing as Fred," Richardson sneered, "we hang out all the time, brunch, kayaking, uh-last weekend we went apple picking. It was delightful."  
"They're too busy saving the city to hang out with snobs like you," Ari muttered under her breath.

"That is a bushel of lies Richardson," Fred slammed his hands on the counter, "I know Big Hero 6, and they would never pick fruit with you. Ever!" If he was thinking clearly he'd notice Ari raising her eyebrows and staring at him puzzled, the gears in her head whirring. However he did not notice and was more focused on his arch-nemesis, who scoffed at his statement.

"Oh, please, there's no way you know Big Hero 6."

"I do!" Ari raised her hand, "they saved me a few times, and are really nice."  
"That's because you're a typical ditzy damsel in distress," Richardson sneered, which only fueled Fred's anger.  
"Hey! Don't you dare talk to Ari like that ever again!" He snapped, his sky blue eyes showcasing his anger.  
That got Richardson to turn on him, "Besides, they'd never hang out with you, they're big-time superheroes and you're just a big.."  
Fred gasped.  
"Old."  
He gasped some more.

"..nobody."  
"Hey!" Ari exclaimed, "he's a better person than you!" But the statement had already sent Fred into a reckless state of mind, as he shrieked in offense.  
"I DEFINITELY KNOW BIG HERO 6 BECAUSE _I_ AM LIZARD GUY!" Fred roared, "Except that's not my name! It's Fredzilla baby!" And he showed a picture of him in his suit, with the helm down.

Ari's jaw dropped, Richardson stared at the picture with a deadpan look, "fake."  
"Yeah, I guess this is fake too?" Fred clicked the Skymax app and summoned the robot into the comic store, but once he saw Richardson's shocked reaction, and Ari who looked like she had an existential crisis, he realized what he had done. "Oh," and shushed Skymax out of the shop, nervously laughing. He then turned his attention to the two, "Forget you saw that!"  
"..Little too late.." Ari mumbled, still gawking at him like he just announced he'd been elected president. Panic started to settle in when they both saw Richardson's wide-eyed expression shift into a more sinister smirk

"Oh no," Fred squeaked, the others were going to kill him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The girls are fightiiiinnnng!
> 
> And some more of Ari's dumb feelings added into the mix equeals even more chaos. And Fred HAD to spill the beans! I had this planned for months, all of my chapters are written ahead of time, so any attempts of "backseat" driving are failed from the start. Sidenote, please don't comment what to put in my fic, theories of what you think will happen is fine, but "omg you should put blah blah blah" just irk me.
> 
> To distract from that serious note, trivia!
> 
> David, since he's blind, uses a cane to help him get around but since he's with his sisters most of the time or other friends he doesn't use it as often, but he does use one. I just forget to write it in ;-;. Also he can use a phone but the reason he's not in the group chat is bc it burned : (


	43. Chapter 42: (Big Hero 7) Stormy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our girl is not alright

Ari had two strong emotions running through her right now.

Which was shock and fear as she watched Fred shut down and turned into a cracker-eating zombie as he entered the robotics labs. At least he bought her the comics he wanted, but at what cost?

The fear was stronger than her shock, considering he revealed a major secret not only to _her,_ but Richardson Mole of all people!  
It jabbed her heart when she noticed the others' reactions as she trailed behind Fred as he continued to consume crackers.

"Oh no, he's eating crackers," Gogo commented.  
"This is bad," Honey Lemon added.  
"You have no idea..." Ari mumbled, she felt so awkward next to them. They were Big Hero 6! The superheroes who saved her life, saved the city, and then saved her life some more! How was she supposed to feel about that?! Her brain just kept filling puzzle pieces that explained their weird behavior, like the time everyone acted weird around something she said, or if anyone brought up the topic of Big Hero 6.

Wasabi was vacuuming the trail of crackers left behind by Fred, and Baymax waddled over to scan him.

The robot pinched his cheeks, " _I detect heightened stress, indicated by cortisol and crackers._ "  
"What's with the crackers?" Hiro questioned, she turned her attention to him. She should've seen it coming due to his constant time in the garage, how "Captain Cutie" recognized her, or heck! He was able to find information about Obake because he was the superhero who got that information! A part of her didn't blame them for not telling, but she was more worried about the other person who Fred spilled the beans to, she at least could keep it secret.

"He's a guilt eater," Wasabi rolled up the vacuum cord and turned to Fred, "what did you do?"  
Fred turned to him with puppy eyes, "I told Richardson that I'm a member of Big Hero 6!" His confession got crackers all over poor Wasabi, who was disgusted by that.  
"Ah! Crackers on my face! Crackers on my face!" Wasabi wiped them off and then realized what he said. "Wait, you what?!"  
"Ari is right there!" Hiro pointed to her, she sighed.  
"I was a witness guys," the others gasped, "I'm not mad, just processing..." Ari cleared her throat, "seriously it's secret for a reason, I'm not mad," then she turned to Hiro, "it explains a lot about you though… 'Mr. I spend too many hours in the garage;"

Hiro just sheepishly chuckled, "I did not expect you to learn that," he glared at Fred, "or at all."  
"I know, I'm sorry, I broke superhero rule number one. I'm a disgrace and deserve to be punished!" He began hitting his head against the wall, Baymax brought up a hand to cushion his headbutting. "I don't deserve a cushion Baymax.."  
"Can I get an explanation afterwards?" Ari raised a hand, "like..I will keep your secret, but I don't know if Mole would.."  
"Sure kiddo," Gogo sighed.  
"Fred, what exactly does Richardson know?" Hiro questioned his friend, who was still headbutting Baymax's vinyl hand.

"Oh I know a lot of things!"

* * *

They turned their attention to Richardson who had entered the lab, "If Fred's in Big Hero 6, that means so are you," he pointed to Hiro.  
"You," he pointed to Honey Lemon who narrowed her eyes at him,

"You," Wasabi stared at him, uncomfortable at being pointed at.

"You," Baymax waved.

" _Hello_."

"And you!" Richardson spun to Gogo, "Dream Girl..." he swooned, "just got dreamier."  
"Leave her alone, creep!" Ari tugged him away as Gogo also pushed him away.

"Ugh, dream on."  
Wasabi gave a nervous chuckle, "yeah we're not… hahaha, you're not going to tell anybody right?!" he grabbed Richardson by the shoulders, desperation in his eyes.  
"If people knew, it would be dangerous," Honey Lemon frowned.  
"If people knew it would be dangerous!" Richardson mocked.  
"Dude," Ari punched him on the shoulder, "take it seriously!"  
Hiro nodded, "seriously Richardson, you have to keep it a secret."  
"Sure, sure, a secret, my lips are sealed," he gestured, "but..."

"I knew there'd be a but!" Fred pointed. Ari facepalmed, and felt a deep anger boiling inside her, how dare this… gremlin child try to blackmail her brother and his friends!  
"I want something in return," Richardson stated.  
"What?" Hiro crossed his arms, as the annoying brat twirled over to Gogo _again_.

"To go on a date with-"  
Gogo was having none of that, "no way. Not happening," she edged him away, "go ahead, tell everyone."  
He sighed, "fine, it was worth a try," he then turned to Fred, "but.."  
"I knew there'd be another but!"  
"Oh there are a lot more buts, Fred," Richardson then pulled out a _loooong_ list, "I want Fred's first edition of _The Human Fist_ , his entire Captain Fancy collection, and his limited edition Dr. Slaughter action figure."

"No way!" Fred fell off his chair, "you can't-"  
The others had different ideas.  
"Done."  
"Fine."  
"Take it."  
"Okay!"  
He felt betrayed, "wait what?!'  
Hiro turned to Richardson, "okay, you can have all of Fred's stuff as long as you keep our identities a secret."  
"Wait!" Fred exclaimed as Richardson walked away.

" _Goodbye,_ " Baymax waved.

"No wait Fred," Gogo told him, "you make a mess, you clean it up."  
He clenched his teeth, "ohhh I hate when you're right!"

* * *

Then to add to his misery, Richardson came back. "What else do you want?" Ari questioned, he then stared at the comics in her arms.  
"Those comics," he demanded, which threw her for a loop.  
"What?!"

"I want those comics back," Richardson crossed his arms, "anyone associated with Fred isn't allowed to touch _my_ comics."  
Ari felt anger roaring inside her, "there is something very, _very_ wrong with you." But to her surprise, Fred stood in front of her.  
"That's crossing a line Mole!" Fred demanded, "I bought those with my hard-earned cash! Let her have them!"

Richardson huffed, "fine, but she's not allowed to buy anything else from me ever again," he then walked away, finally leaving them alone for awhile.

Ari was relieved she got to keep her comics, but then remembered Fred couldn't, "hey uh… I'm sorry Fred," she told him, "if I didn't want to go buy stuff today, Richardson wouldn't have antagonized you and you wouldn't have spilled the beans."

Fred stared at her, then chuckled, "oh Ari," he ruffled her hair. "I was going to go the store eventually,"  
"How come?"

"Well, I needed to do some research on how to beat High Voltage," he explained softly, "so they don't start their crime-dancing spree all over again."  
Ari stared at him with her wide blue eyes, "do you have to…?"  
Fred glanced at the others, who's expressions turned to mixtures of fear and worry, "I know you like Juniper and that's fine, but she's not a good person for doing all those crimes. And as Big Hero 6, we gotta stop people like her before anyone gets hurt, do you understand that?"

She sighed, no matter how much she loved the crime-dancer, there was no indication she was gonna change her ways, "I know..it sucks though," she mumbled.

Hiro walked up to her, "this probably feels awkward to you."  
She held up her hand, "a little bit," Ari hummed, "like I think the back of my head suspected it but I never thought to put two-and-two together, besides I never was curious! The superheroes are..superheroes, I just like seeing them in action because it was cool," she giggled, "but I vow to never tell your secret until the day I die, in my honor."  
Hiro sighed, "I didn't think you couldn't keep it, I just didn't want to burden you with that information."  
"Because of the whole 'if supervillains find out there goes your loved ones' I am aware of the trope, unlike _Richardson_." Ari sneered, "I'll leave you guys be until you have the whole Mole thing figured out, I'd just make it awkward and I wanna ask stuff at a more appropriate time."  
"You can do that," Wasabi nodded.  
"Thanks for keeping it secret," Honey Lemon smiled.  
"And we'll be sure to answer stuff once it's safe to," Gogo shrugged.

Ari smiled, "um good luck," and she began to exit out of the labs.  
"Wait, where are you going?" Hiro questioned.  
"To ask a friend for a favor!"

* * *

_Fredzilla added TheLittleMermaid and 4 others to "Superhero Squad"_

_Fredzilla changed TheLittleMermaid and 5 other usernames_

Ariel: Hey Fred what is this?

Flame Jumper: A superhero group chat! So we can talk about superhero things without any of the Fern kids or others picking it up!

Flame Jumper: You're included since you're a good secret keeper

Ariel: Awww : )

Chem Girl: I love my username! : D

Speed Queen: Why are we named after the names from Karmi's fanfiction

Flame Jumper: We haven't come up with codenames so we're using those ones! I love mine way more than "Lizard Guy" and it's better than saying our names while we're in superhero mode!  
Chop Chop: He has a point

Chop Chop: Wait does that mean

Captain Cutie: Don't say a word or else

Ariel: XD, I am so sorry Hiro I tried stopping her from naming you that but there is no stopping someone and their crushing

Captain Cutie: Takes one to know one

Ariel: HEY!  
Ariel: How come Baymax isn't in this chat?

Captain Cutie: I need to come up with a texting chip for him just for that

Captain Cutie: So he'd know to act

Ariel: You'd put memes/vines in that wouldn't you

Captain Cutie: Maaaaybe?

Speed Queen: Vine is dead Hiro

Captain Cutie: It's not dead in my heart!

* * *

"So, what is it that you need from me?" Rachel questioned, she had been enjoying a nice vanilla milkshake from Joe's Diner with Katie until Ari headed to her booth, asking for a favor.  
"Oh, I actually need something from Katie, but I kind of need your permission," Ari rubbed her sleeve, "it's very important!"  
Katie glanced at her, then back to Ari, her whiskers twitched with amusement.  
"What services do you need Katie for and why?" Rachel slurped her milkshake, she saw Ari start to stammer and glanced around.  
"I need Katie for tracking someone," Ari's cheeks began to turn pink, Rachel narrowed her eyes.  
"Katie?" she glanced to the blue, who had an evil grin.  
The feline walked up to Ari, "let me guess," Katie purred, "you want me to sniff out your crush, don't you?"

"What-what-whaaa, noo way," she nervously giggled, her voice turning squeaky, "...just a little."  
"Aww, you wanna have some time before the supehewoes put her back in jail," Katie mocked in a baby tone, "isn't wittle Awi's cwush adowanble?"

"Katie stop speaking like that," Rachel had a deadpan look.

"Sowwy!"  
She sighed, "According to a witness from Krei-Tech, they took two micro battery prototypes, so both members of High Voltage have their electrical powers, granted it's perhaps not as strong as using their energy orb but still painful." Rachel warned her, "they might treat you with hostility, and to each other."  
"That's why I wanna look for them!" Ari exclaimed, "I'm worried that something bad will happen because of their fighting!" she yelped and placed a hand to her head. "Owww my head..this headache grows the more I think about it!"

"Then stop thinking about it," Katie rolled her eyes.  
"Why do you think something bad will happen?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, seeing something flash in Ari's eyes; fear. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah just..my head," Ari groaned, taking an aspirin pill and gulping it down with a water bottle, "I keep getting the reloop of yelling, red, fear, and now I keep hearing some banging noise but I don't know what it is!"  
Rachel and Katie exchanged glances, concern growing on their faces.  
"What..kind of banging noise?" Katie's ears twitched.  
"Kind of sounds like, pew-pew! Pow! Bang!" Ari mimicked the sound, "kind of hurts."

She didn't notice the duo exchanging glances again, this time even more concerned.  
"Well, if it makes your headache subside," Rachel nudged the blue cat close to Ari, "you can borrow Katie for tracking the hypothetical love of your life, her services will end at midnight."  
"Yay!" Ari cheered, scooping up the feline, "I'll take good care of you Katie cat!"  
"Hooray," Katie rolled her eyes.

* * *

The first place Ari went to was Krei-Tech, so Katie could sniff out the lingering scents of High Voltage.  
"Arg! Who in this building smells like pineapples?!" Katie demanded, behind them, a certain mechanic coughed.  
"Sorry," Steven mumbled.  
"Well it's messing up my nose," Katie placed a paw over her nose, "find somewhere else Ari..."  
"Okay, fine," Ari picked her up from the front desk.

* * *

Second location was the police station, where according to Rachel, one of the crime-dancers was snooping around there.  
"I got a scent," Katie sniffed the air, "doesn't smell like Juniper… so it's probably Barb, which explains why the scent does smell a little bit like her." She noticed Ari staring at her. "Yes?"  
"Uh, what exactly did Juniper smell like to you?"  
"Creepy much?"  
"Oh, don't you start!" she walked to the front desk, Detective Elio Rosemary was working there.  
"Hey Ariel!" Elio greeted her, "you hanging with Katie?"  
"Kind of," Ari chuckled.  
"She's having me sniff out High Voltage," the blue blurted out.  
"Katie!"  
"Kids." Elio chuckled, not believing them. "Katie is a good tracker, I'd recruit her but I don't think the K-9 unit would like her."  
"Because she's a cat?" Ari questioned, dogs and cats don't get along after all.

"No, she terrifies them."  
"Ohhhh," she turned to Katie, "what did you do?"  
The blue fiddled with her paws, "something that makes the vet a daycare compared to me."  
Ari felt a chill go up her spine.

* * *

The good news of going to the police station was that Katie could follow the trail. However, it led back to Joe's Diner. The evening had passed and nighttime was rolling around, nine o' clock. Before she walked in, Ari felt her phone buzz, groaned, and accepted the call.  
" _Hey Ari!_ " It was Aunt Cass, " _It's getting late, you should head back to the cafe soon._ "  
"Oh uh, I will," Ari glanced at the feline on her shoulder, "I'm just hanging with Katie cat, remember we catsitted her?"  
" _Of course! Mochi loved her company!_ " Aunt Cass hummed, " _they got along so well! Kitty love!_ "  
Katie gagged, "oh great she's a shipper _.._ "

Ari snickered, "I might be late, but at least I'm safe! Love you!"  
" _Love you too sweetie!_ " and the call ended, she sighed.  
"Lying stinks, now I know how my brother feels," Ari grumbled, entering the diner.

Since it was night, the diner was mostly empty, the only person seeming to stick around was Joe, the manager himself. He was bringing a vanilla milkshake to the other person that was in the diner, sitting by one of the booths, Barb herself. The woman appeared to have a long day, drinking her sorrows away in milkshakes.

Katie puffed out her chest, "told you I'm a good tracker," she whispered.  
"We went in a giant circle around town," Ari rolled her eyes, the blue hissed.

Ari exhaled, did she really want to walk up to her? The warnings of her friends played in her mind.

_Dangerous…_

_Might get hurt…_

_Criminals.._

_BANG!_

The loud ringing in her ears caused Ari to wince, she made up her mind. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the booth.

"Uh…" Ari trailed off, not sure what to say, but then a stinging feeling in her arm made her yelp, "ow!" she turned to Katie, who had nipped her, "why?!"  
Katie just meowed, _oh great she's doing the dumb act again,_ but before Ari could speak up, her sudden yelp had caught Barb's attention.

The woman stared at her with tired eyes, "Ari? What on earth are you doing here?" Barb questioned, "shouldn't you be going to sleep?"  
"Hey! I can stay out as late as I like!" she exclaimed, "I was looking for you." She then noticed the half a dozen empty milkshake glasses, "oh wow, that's a lot."  
"It's been a long day for me Ariel," Barb replied, then noticed Katie, who jumped onto the table and began licking the glass, "is that your cat?"  
"Kind of," Ari gestured, "but I want to talk to you!" She took a seat across from Barb, her headache still throbbing, she held a hand to her head.  
"What's the deal, with you and Juniper?" she questioned, Barb glanced away.  
"It's been an argument for awhile, but it's somehow gotten worse," the woman replied.  
"Yeah but I need details!" Ari clapped, "why are you fighting?!"  
"Ariel, it's really none of your business," Barb told her.  
"What if it gets worse?!" Her outburst made Katie glance at her, the feline looked worried for some reason.

Barb also had a look of worry, "sweetheart, it's kind that you care." She pushed the empty milkshake glass to the side, "but…"  
"But what?" Ari crossed her arms, "why can't you tell me?"  
"It's not any of your business," Barb repeated.

She felt a stone weighing in her chest, that only fueled her anxiety, "I'm just..worried, for you and Juniper," Ari confessed, her head bowed down.

Barb's expression formed into a mixture of surprise and concern, "Ariel that's very sweet of you, but I'll be fine." Joe headed to the booth with another milkshake, and placed it on the table. Ari turned her attention to Katie and gave her a few pets while the woman enjoyed her drink.

* * *

However, as the jukebox played a pop song, Ari saw a familiar blonde standing on the other side of the diner.

Quick as a whip, Juniper shot a bolt of electricity that shattered the milkshake Barb was drinking out of.

"Hello, Juniper," Barb had a deadpan look on her face.  
"Don't 'hello Juniper' me, where is it?" Juniper demanded, a look of anger was on her face.

Barb sighed, "I don't know what you're talking about."  
"Tell me where it is, NOW!" Juniper stomped, sending an electrical surge around the floor of the diner, the lights and neon signs lit up.

Barb stepped out of the booth, "you wanna dance?"

"Ooh this is gonna be good," Katie whispered, "I wish I had a camera," Ari shoved the cat to the side. A bolt of electricity was sent to the jukebox, changing the station.

" _You might think I'm done, you might think they've won,_ " the jukebox ang, Ari slowly sneaked her way to the counter where Joe was.  
"Let's dance," Barb started dancing and spinning electricity.

Juniper wasn't going to go down without a fight, "I think that song's a little tired, don't you?"

She zapped the jukebox, changing it to a more modern song, which Joe began dancing to. Ari just facepalmed as " _When you try to say my name, you choke up on the phone. When you try to play my games, you end up all alone,_ " started to play from the jukebox.  
Juniper started dancing to the beat, and mockingly blew an electric kiss to her mother, who screamed and changed the song back. And Joe started cleaning the counter in a bored manner, while Ari hummed a little to the song.

"It's a classic!" Barb had electricity rolling off her hips as she danced.

"Classic's just another word for old, Mother!" Juniper changed the song back.  
"Did you just call me old?" Barb was offended by the comment, she zapped the jukebox and the electricity broke Joe's pot of coffee.  
"Hey!" he cried in offense.  
"Mind your own business, buddy!"  
"This is my/his business, I'm/he's Joe!" Both Joe and Ari pointed to the Joe's Diner sign. Then ducked as the electricity from the jukebox started spazzing out.  
Juniper danced toward her mother, they both started circling each other as the station kept changing.

"If you think for one minute that I won't get to it before you, then you're wrong," Juniper declared, "so wrong!"  
"It's cute that you think so, little girl," she screamed in offense at her mother's taunt, and began spinning and spewing electricity that blinded the diner, and broke every glass in sight. Ari yelped and jumped behind the counter, as the light faded and she looked up, Juniper was backflipping out of the diner in anger.

Barb panted and rested herself over the counter, Joe's head popped up.  
"What a mess," he stared at the broken glass, "but what a performance!" He started dancing, somehow he enjoyed the dance-off, a small smile crept on Barb's face.

"This is fueling my concerns," Ari grumbled, bringing a hand to her head, "and my migraine, ow..."  
Katie just meowed, staring at the mess. _Well that was the most exciting show I saw,_ she thought, but then her fur ruffled as Ari jumped over the counter and stared at Barb with a look of terror in her eyes.  
"This has to stop!" Ari demanded, "please just apologize whatever argument caused you and Juniper to bicker-please!" her eyes were starting to rim with liquid.

Barb herself was shocked to see Ari's panicked expression, "Are you okay?"

"I am fine!" Ari yelled, "what's not fine is that you and your daughter's arguing cause-" she pointed to the mess, "this!" She then yelped and collapsed to the floor, shocking everyone in the diner, including Katie.

_Oh noo..._ Katie whimpered, _she's remembering..._

Barb kneeled down to inspect the shivering girl, "Arie, are you okay?" she held out a hand, but Ari slapped it away.  
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Ari screeched, and before anyone could react she bolted out of the diner. Joe hid behind the counter again.

There wasn't a word spoken once Ari had left, Katie's whiskers twitched, she began walking towards the exit.  
"Wait," Barb's voice stopped her, she turned to the woman, who's facial expression _screamed_ motherly concern. "Please look after Ariel, I am guessing you're aware of her amnesia?"  
Katie gave a slow nod, _so I guess she told them, she must trust them a lot._  
"She must be remembering something bad," Barb sighed, "you can go now, but make sure nothing bad happens to her."

Katie meowed, signalling she'd do that, and then sped out of the diner, hot on Ari's trail.

* * *

"How did she run so far?" Katie mumbled, it wasn't hard to track her down, no the problem was Ari had apparently ran all the way to Good Luck Alley. A place that was nowhere safe for a small girl, she saw her duck into the alley and Katie followed. She found Ari curled behind a trash can, whimpering and sniffling.  
"Ari!" Katie padded up to her, "don't run so far!"  
"Sorry," Ari sniffled, "just… my head keeps hurting and my thoughts are swimming," the girl looked like a wreck.  
"I know," she curled into her lap, "but can we have a meltdown in a less stinky alleyway?"  
"Sorry," Ari stood up, picking up the cat, "let's go home." She looked like she was about to collapse, a rotten scent crept up on Katie's nose, she curled her lip.

"Uhg! What smells like garbage?" she sneered.

"Well that isn't a nice thing to say kitty cat," she looked behind Ari's shoulder and saw a group of thugs emerging from the alley.  
"Hey isn't that the talking cat?" one of them pointed to her, "she'd sell for a pretty penny!"  
"Buzz off buzzards," Katie hissed, "Ari let's go."  
"Got it," however as she tried to exit to the streets, another thug blocked their path.  
"Where are you going kid?" the thug mocked.  
"Nowhere?" Ari squeaked, "I'm not feeling well, can we do this another day?" the thug scoffed and knocked her into the ground.  
"Hey!" Katie growled, "go away or else!"

"You're in no position to make demands," the leader thug grabbed her by the collar, she yelped. "So why don't you behave like a good kitty-ACK!"

In an instant, she was dropped to the ground, Katie saw a bright flash and the lead thug dropped the ground, static pinning him down.

Then, the others followed, being kicked, zapped, and pushed to the ground. Katie caught the scent of their rescuer, followed by a blur of fluffy blonde hair.

Ari let out a sharp gasp, barely able to keep consciousness, "...June?" she squinted, seeing a _very_ familiar pair of cocoa brown eyes, slightly darker than her mother's.

"Hey Ari," Juniper smiled, then turned her attention to the twitching thugs, "if you ever… _ever_ take one more step against my friend, I will zap you to kingdom come!" she barked, staring to channel electricity to blast at them, which caused the thugs to whimper and scramble back to the alley.

Katie purred, _that was a close one!_ But unfortunately Ari had run out of energy and passed out, Juniper gasped and picked her up.  
"Oh no," there was a look of concern on the crime-dancer's face, "is she okay?" Juniper turned to the cat, who shrugged.

"You're not helping my case buddy," she grumbled, lifting Ari over her shoulder and carrying her away from the dangerous alley, with the feline trailing behind.

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Captain Cutie: Ari hasn't come back to the cafe yet and I am starting to get concerned

Speed Queen: She's probably still chilling with Katie

Chem Girl: How do you know that?

Speed Queen: Because I ran into Rachel and she told me Ari had "rented" Katie for something

Flame Jumper: I hope I'm wrong in my prediction on what that was

Captain Cutie: She could at least message us!  
Chem Girl: Her phone battery probably died

Speed Queen: Or she's ignoring you

Flame Jumper: I mean she did learn that we're Big Hero 6 so..

Captain Cutie: Which was your fault

Flame Jumper: I said I was sorry!  
Flame Jumper: At least she's not blackmailing us like Mole did! My poor comics! In his filthy, disgusting hands!  
Speed Queen: Stop whining and woman up

Flame Jumper: : (

* * *

It hurt her so much to see poor Ari unconscious and suffering in her sleep, as Juniper got back to her little hideout and laid the girl on a comfortable sleeping space, she grabbed the softest blanket and covered her with it. The feline Katie, who had been following along, meowed and curled herself next to Ari, offering herself as a furry pillow.  
"Hey um," Juniper spoke to the cat, "can you get me when Ari wakes up?"  
Katie meowed in response, nodding her head, "okay, thanks."

She was able to breathe a sigh of relief once Ari stopped squirming and cuddled up against the blue cat. _Ari might get thirsty when she wakes up, I should probably get her water or something._ Juniper got up and walked to the kitchen, she quickly poured a glass of water and set it on the table for her friend. Katie stared at her with sharp blue eyes as she set the glass down.  
"I hope you're not judging me or something," She narrowed her eyes at the cat, who's gaze softened, "it's hard to stay mad at just a cute feline."  
Katie purred, but she didn't get up, preferring to snuggle the sleepy Ari, however her tail kept flicking over to Ari's pockets. Meowing as if she was trying to tell her to check the pockets.  
"Do you want me to check her phone or something?" Juniper raised an eyebrow, _weird cat… cute, but weird._

"Mrow," Katie purred, twitching her whiskers in amusement.  
"Guess that answers that," Juniper mentally apologized in advance and swiped Ari's phone from her pocket, "she really should put a password on this." And found the reason why Katie wanted her to check the phone.

Ari had about several dozens of messages from her phone, most of them being from the "Hiro" she mentioned once or twice. However there were a lot of messages coming from a group chat.  
"Okay first of all who names a group chat 'Ferns and Nerds', second, why do you want me to inspect Ari's phone?" Juniper turned her attention to the cat, who just purred.  
"Meow," Katie lifted a paw and imitated typing with it.  
"Oh, you want me to type that Ari's okay to her friends, right?"  
"Mrow!"  
"Okay then..." Juniper clicked onto the group chat, _sorry Ari..._ she apologized in advance

Mikan Ferns: For the last time I did not kidnap Ari!  
Mikan Ferns: Why would you suspect me of that?!

"I feel bad for this person," she commented.  
"Mrow," Katie apparently felt indifferent.

Hiro Hamada: She is never this late in responding to messages!  
Hiro Hamada: Either her phone is dead or something bad happened to my sister!  
Sienna Kline: Maybe she's busy

Rachel Rosemary: Like stealing my cat for dumb reasons

"Oh, that's your owner," Juniper turned to Katie, "her name sounds familiar." The cat glanced away, "better message before someone else gets accused."

TheLittleMermaid: Nothing bad happened

Sara Ferns: SHE LIVES

TheLittleMermaid: I am just running late

Hiro Hamada: Why are you typing weird?!

"Oh no he's onto us," she facepalmed, "also who gave Ari that username?"  
"Meow," Katie shrugged.  
"Your input is not helpful."

TheLittleMermaid: I have no idea what you are talking about

Fredzilla: Ari got her phone stolen by an imposter!  
Rachel Rosemary: By Katie

Rachel Rosemary: Only Katie types like this

"You steal phones?" Juniper narrowed her eyes at the cat, "and you know how to type?"  
"Meow!" Katie purred, licking her paw and rubbing her ears.  
"Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess."

TheLittleMermaid: Oh no you caught me

TheLittleMermaid: Yes because Ari fell asleep on the bus

TheLittleMermaid: She will be the death of me

Sienna Kline: Oh god the world's ending

Sienna Kline: What's next? Giant killer fish?

Fredzilla: I think you mean eels

Hiro Hamada: Yep Katie stole her phone

Rachel Rosemary: What's your evidence

Hiro Hamada: Everytime someone mentions eels Ari goes "not in my house!" because she haaaates them

Mikan Ferns: I think they're cute!  
Sara Ferns: "You think killer robots are cute" -David

Fredzilla: Oooh burn

Rachel Rosemary: Katie put the phone down, wait till Ari gets up at least

TheLittleMermaid: Alright, see you.

Juniper gave a sigh of relief as she turned off the phone and placed it back into Ari's pocket, "I am never doing that again."  
"Mrow."  
"You're not helping Katie," she sighed, but stretched her hand over to give the blue a few scratches behind the ears. "I bet you're wondering why I went along with that, right?"  
"Meow," Katie mewed, it sounded like a "maybe" to her.  
"Well, Ari's my friend," Juniper explained, "I really enjoy her company and sending her letters, so it's the least I could do, I don't really have any friends… not anymore, so might as well help the one friend I got left."

The cat whined, Katie crawled over and began nuzzling her arm. "Aww, I guess you can be my friend too, two friends are better than one."  
"Mrow," Katie nodded, the feline's sandpaper tongue started licking her arm, the rough sensation caused her to jerk back.  
"Ouch!"  
"Meow!" The feline frowned, headbutting her sides.  
Juniper giggled, "aww you're so needy for affection," she petted the cat's sides.

* * *

As she waited for Ari to wake up, petting the blue kept her distracted. A part of Juniper wished she zapped those thugs harder, how dare they attack Ari! _This is my mom's fault, she shouldn't have let Ari run off!_ Yes, she noticed the fluffy brunette in Joe's Diner as she argued with her mom. But as angry as she was with her, it wasn't her mom's fault. Something had been bothering Ari lately, she could just..tell.

Maybe her mom knew what would help the poor girl, _oh what do I do…_ Juniper groaned, _what if Ari has some sort of fatal disease and it's finally won!_

Before she could imagine any hypothetical worse-case scenario, Ari stirred. She let out a sigh of relief as her friend woke up, but there was a haunting look on her phase.  
"Ari?" she tapped her shoulder, Ari stared at her, she winced at the heart wrenching sadness in her blue eyes. "Um, you passed out and I brought you to my hideout, and Katie followed," she gestured to the blue cat, who was giving them a pitiful look.

"June?" Ari squeaked, her voice sounded broken.  
"Yeah? Is it your head?" Juniper questioned, "I-"  
All of a sudden Ari burst into sobs, burying her face into her chest, "I-I remembered that-" she sobbed.  
"Ari?"  
"My p-p-parents," her eyes widened, Ari only mentioned her parents once, and a dark feeling festered as her friend wailed.  
"T-they-" Ari sniffled, "The-they're gone!"  
"Gone?" Juniper gasped.  
"Gone! They're gone!" she wailed, "th-there was a loud shot and they th-I miss them I w-wan them back!" The tears streamed down Ari's cheeks, she shivered and sobbed and her cheeks got puffy and her voice screamed of a poor child that just wanted her parents back.  
"I want my mo-mom and dad, but they're gone..." she sobbed, and Juniper held her close.  
"Ari..I'm here," she rubbed her back, "I promise I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you."

It felt like an eternity passed as Ari's sobs subsided and brushed the tears off her cheek, Katie had brought a box of tissues so the girl could wipe the sadness of her face.

"Sorry for getting your clothes all wet," Ari gestured to her shawl, which was covered in her tears.  
"It's fine," Juniper shrugged, "If it helps, I'm so sorry for your loss."  
"Yeah," Ari looked down, "since I first remembered them, I just kept hoping and wishing they'd come back and I could see them again and then I'd tell them about Hiro and his friends and everyone else..but now I can't." she sighed, "I'm all alone..."  
"Hey, you mentioned your friends, you have them," she pointed out, "they're your family then."  
Ari crossed her arms, "yeah… hey uh June?" she turned to her, there was a strange glint in her eyes.  
"Yes?" Juniper stared back, "is there any-"  
"Please don't hate me for this," Ari bowed her head down, then she started to lean in, moving close to her face.

"Umm," Juniper nudged her back, "what are you doing? You are _way_ too close for comfort."  
Ari's eyes widened, her entire face turned red, "umm… nothing?"  
"Wait why were you-" then it hit her, "were you trying to kiss me?!"  
"No!"  
"Oh my god you were trying to kiss me!"  
"Wha-no I wasn't!"  
"Your face is red!"  
Ari placed two hands on her cheeks, "It's sweat!"  
"I have heard that excuse too many times!" Juniper exclaimed, "How long have you had a crush on me!? Is that why you talk to me?"  
"No! I like talking to you because you're a fun person but also kind of hot!" Ari grabbed Katie and buried her face into the feline's fur, "at least I'm not sad anymore.."  
"I'm-I'm not mad," Juniper shook her head, she was going to pretend she did _not_ that last thing Ari said, "but uh.." she really didn't want to do this but leading her friend on was worse, "I just care about you as a friend..."  
"Oh," Ari's head bowed down, it hurt her heart to break Ari's but.

"It's just, you're a lot younger than me,"  
"You're only a few months older than one of my friends, and she's sixteen," Ari grumbled, "I'm almost fourteen, it's a few days away."  
"Yeah but… I can't force myself to feel feelings for you, I'm so sorry Ari," Juniper sighed, "you're a great person, but… I just can't."  
"It's fine," Ari huffed, "c-can we still be friends?"  
What kind of question was that? "Of course!" she chuckled, "you'll always be my friend."  
"I'd like that," and that smile was back on Ari's face.

"I started feeling things since I first saw you, but I guess it started when you saved my life," Ari explained, "and I couldn't stop thinking about you, so when I just kept visiting and sending letters," she kept staring at Katie, petting the feline's soft fur as she rambled, "and I felt more things to care about you. How smart you are, the way your eyes twinkle, and that smirk you have on your face, it just.." she giggled, "even if you don't feel the same way, I'd still like to be part of your life."  
"Wow," Juniper hummed, "you really…'fell' for me,huh?"  
"That was terrible, you're terrible," she groaned, "um… this isn't sounding weird is it?"  
"Nope. Why would you say that?"  
"Because I'm a girl and you're a girl. It's not weird to me but it might sound weird to you," Ari's cheeks flustered with embarrassment.

Juniper shook her head, "no! I feel the same way you do, but uh, where I used to live, it was treated as a taboo subject."

"Yikes," Ari frowned, "at least San Fransokyo is one of the better places to live for people like us, and most of my friends know what it's like and are rather supportive!"  
A part of Juniper felt envious of Ari, but she brushed it away, "at least you have that."  
"What about you?" Ari tilted her head, "did you at least have someone supportive?"  
"Yeah, my mom," Juniper huffed, "I don't wanna talk about her..."

"Anyone else though?" her friend persisted, "like maybe your dad or someth-ack!"

She stopped talking the moment seeing Juniper give her the most livid glare she ever saw. "Sorry sorry sorry!"  
Her gaze softened, "not mad at you but..." she shut her eyes trying to block out the bad memories, "we don't talk about that person for a reason."  
"Oh.." Ari caught on, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."  
"It's fine, I'm over it, kind of," she rubbed her wrist, "you feeling better?"  
"A bit." she hummed, her eyes went wide all of a sudden, "oh no..."  
"What?"  
"My brother is going to kill me!" Ari exclaimed, "What time is it?!"  
She stared at the clock, "oh uh, almost eleven." she hummed.  
"Oh god I am so dead!' she groaned.  
"Don't worry," Juniper placed a hand on her shoulder, "I um… might've borrowed your phone to message you were heading home."  
"Why?" Ari frowned.  
"Katie told me to," her friend then glanced at the cat.  
"Oh did she…?"  
"Mrow!" Katie chirped, her ears perked up.  
"Yeah, she's pretty good at gestures," Juniper chuckled, "like she's a human in a cat's body!"  
"You don't say..."  
"Meow!"

* * *

After wishing her friend goodbye, Ari started sprinting back to the Lucky Cat Cafe. Katie, the blue-furred traitor and _pain in her neck_ , meowed "adios" and ditched her! The nerve of that furball! To be fair Ari rented her services until midnight, and it was half-an-hour to midnight when she got back to the cafe.

Mochi was the first one to notice her, he meowed loudly to alert Cass and Hiro. The two of them had dug into the cafe's pastries, the latter was eating a donut when she walked in but dropped it at the sight of her.  
"Ari!" In a flash he sped to her side and squeezed her into a hug, "I was so worried!"  
"Didn't I give you a text?" she raised an eyebrow, technically she didn't but he didn't know that.  
"It was an hour ago!" he continued to hug her, Cass and Baymax walked over and pulled her into a hug.

" _Ari, are you alright?_ " Baymax questioned, " _your eyes are puffy, an indication of crying._ "  
Cass leaned to look at her, "oh no did someone make you cry?"  
"Or hurt you?" Hiro cracked his knuckles.

"No I..." she told them what she remembered, they both gasped.  
"Ari oh you poor thing!" Cass squeezed her into a hug, "you don't deserve that."  
Hiro also hugged her again, "we're here for you."  
" _There, there, you will be alright._ " Baymax also hugged her, she almost cried from the warmth of their hugs.

_They really do care about me.._ she sniffled. _They really do care._

_They really are my family..aren't they?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahah...
> 
> ahahhahah
> 
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sucks to be Ari right now- *sweats as angry reader holds me at knifepoint* OKAY OKAY chill it gets better! She's got an emotional support blanket of friends, so she has some form of comfort. 
> 
> Anyways, the gang knows Ari knows, awkward...
> 
> Good thing Katie was there to supervise stupid choice #15 bc who knows what would've happened by herself. Just kidding, not like Juniper would've hurt her at all. Except don't leave your phone w/o a password Ari! You're part of a superhero group chat now, don't leave your phone unprotected from supervillains!
> 
> And yeah, superhero group chat. I had to. 
> 
> Idk what's worse, Ari remembering here parents are mcdead in front of her villain friend, or getting friendzoned by said villain friend. (I feel so bad for my readers who ship it). And now Juniper knows, hmmmmmm. And yeah, she and Katie are friends, it's canon now. (Much to Ari's distaste lol, she can't win)


	44. Chapter 43: (Big Hero 7) Thunder Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari no  
> ARI YES

Hiro had a long discussion with his aunt after they tucked Ari to sleep. They had spent about an hour talking about what to do.

"Do you think she has any relatives left?" Hiro questioned, "you had Detective Rosemary investigating right? Maybe-"  
"Hiro, I asked him that weeks ago, and so far nobody has shown up looking for her," Cass sighed, "I think her parents were the only relatives left, now.."  
"They're gone," he sighed, "poor Ari… we're not going to kick her out, right?"  
"No! I would never!" his aunt exclaimed, "she's part of the family now, so we're gonna take care of her."  
He nodded, "I have an idea..."

* * *

Ari had woken up to a plate of pancakes, waffles, bacon, cut up oranges, everything she loved for breakfast being handed to her by Hiro.  
"Here Ari," Hiro placed the plate on her bed, "breakfast in bed."  
"Oh uh… thanks?" she took a bite of the bacon, "mmmm, turkey bacon.."

Hiro smiled, "you feeling better?"  
"A little," she gestured, "I uh, am still very upset about what I remembered, but it was… awhile."  
"A while?" he raised an eyebrow.  
"When my parents passed," she sniffled, "I just feel numb, I miss them so much, but I can't bring any effort to cry anymore."  
He knew that feeling all too well, "Ari, I know how it feels to lose a loved one," he sat next to her, "when I lost Tadashi… everything felt pointless."  
"How did you recover from that?" she questioned.  
"I didn't."

She gasped, "what?"  
"Well, I'm still trying my best to move on every day," Hiro elaborated, "It wasn't until Baymax and the gang that I started to heal," he sighed, "some days are harder than others, but what helps me most is remembering that.."

"That?"  
"Tadashi is here," he placed a hand to his chest, "and as long I keep him in my heart, he's never truly gone."  
"Would the same pass for my parents?" Ari asked him, her voice sounding hoarse.  
"It will," Hiro wrapped her into a hug, "I promise that Baymax, Aunt Cass and I, we'll be there for you, because you're our family, you're my family."  
"You're my family too," she hugged him tight.

They continued to hug for awhile, but Hiro had to go to school, and Ari's hug was getting a little too tight for him to breathe properly.  
"Is things going with Mole awful as ever?" she questioned, recalling his blackmailing yesterday.  
"Yep," he nodded, "I feel bad for Fred, but then I remembered he spilled the biggest secret of the group so.."  
"Wow, cold," she sighed, "I just want it over so I can ask you several dozen questions about 'that' and I have a list of several scenarios where I could've figured it out!"

He chuckled, "thanks for being flexible for now."  
"One of us has to be the mature one, and Baymax can technically classify as a parent sometimes so.."  
"Hey!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Why on earth did I see a little gremlin in the robotics lab being massaged by Baymax

Sara Ferns: Gremlin?

Fredzilla: Richardson Mole is blackmailing us!  
Sienna Kline: I feel so sorry for you

Mikan Ferns: Why tho

Fredzilla: It's classified?

TheLittleMermaid: Fred spilled a group secret so they have to do Mole's bidding or else

Wasabi: Ari!  
Mikan Ferns: Understandable, have a nice day  
Hiro Hamada: Hey Ari, are you feeling better?

TheLittleMermaid: Noo

TheLittleMermaid: I wish Baymax was here, but at least Aunt Cass has been so nice

Honey Lemon: Are you okay?

TheLittleMermaid: Ask my brother

Wasabi: Hey remember when Ari refused to call Aunt Cass "Aunt Cass?" It feels like forever ago

Sara Ferns: Yeah time flies by!

Sara Ferns: I think it's because of Big Hero 6, they're making college easier for me

Honey Lemon: Awww

Mikan Ferns: pfft, they're kind of annoying though

Sienna Kline: Wow.

Fredzilla: Rude!  
Gogo: Didn't they save you from Noodle Burger Boy once?

Mikan Ferns: you got me there

* * *

As the morning passed, Ari spent most of her time watching customers in the cafe go by. Every now and then Cass would check up on her, which got old at the seventh time, but she appreciated the gesture.

She tried to not think about the reopened wound from yesterday.

The chiming of the door opening caught her attention as a familiar duo, and their detective father walked into the cafe.

She stared silently as Detective Rosemary and Cass conversed, _wonder what they're talking about?_ Ari hummed, _probably me._  
"Katie told me you remembered something awful yesterday," Rachel walked up to her table, the blue in her arms, "I'm sorry."  
"I'll admit I'm not doing well, but I'm trying to have a good day," Ari sighed, "have you experienced loss?"  
"Me? Not really," Rachel glanced to her father, who had a frown on his face as he talked to Cass, "my dad didn't have the best home life..he lost his mom when he was my age and his brothers..well let's say I only know my mom's side of the family for a reason."  
"Because they're evil jerks," Katie quipped.  
"TMI Katie!"  
Ari winced, "Yikes, if there's one thing that's worse than supervillains, it's one you're related to."  
"Tell me about it," Rachel rolled her eyes, "anyways, I also wanted to tell you something."  
"Uh, huh," Ari kept glancing to the adult's conversation, it probably was something about-

_SLAM!_

Rachel's hands hitting the table jerked her upwards, "never, ever, go looking for supervillains, again."  
Ari's eyes went wide, she flinched at Rachel's green glare. "Katie told me how if it weren't for 'so-and-so' you would've been in major trouble! Just don't do it again!"  
"But they're still not getting along!" Ari exclaimed, "something bad will happen if they continue to argue!"  
"Ari you're being paranoid," Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose, "why are you continuing to chase someone that doesn't even share your feelings at this point?"  
"Because-"  
"Girls, is everything alright?" Ari clamped her mouth as Elio walked to their table. "I heard shouting."  
"We're just having a debate," Rachel hummed, gesturing for Ari to "not say a word."  
"Yep," Ari nodded, "we're talking about that fantasy show on Netflix, y'know the one with dragons and magic."  
"Oh, that one," Elio sighed, "well try to keep your debate at a lower volume, I was getting worried."  
"We will!" they both chimed, the detective chuckled.  
"Good," he knelt down to look at Ari in the eyes, "hey, Cass told me what happened, you must be going through a lot right now."  
"That's an understatement,"

"So, I'm really glad to hear that she's looking out for you," he gently ruffled her hair, "not a lot of people get that comfort, and it's a real shame."  
"Dad," Rachel called his attention, he got up and cleared his throat.  
"Oh uh, you two have a good day," he then went back to his conversation with Cass, Ari started, puzzled. _That was weird.._

"So," Rachel swiveled back to her, "my bad for yelling, I just don't see the point in your endeavors,"  
"Gee thanks," Ari sarcastically mumbled.  
"I find it hilarious," Katie chirped.  
"No one asked you!" both girls exclaimed, the blue jumped, her fur ruffled.  
"Fine, I'm gonna go bug Mochi," she sniffed the calico who was curled under a sunbeam, with a twitch of her whiskers she bounced over to him, the two cats greeted each other in friendly meows and began conversing. At least that's what Ari thought, she didn't speak cat.

"At least Katie has a friend outside of me," Rachel commented, "she's either stone cold or hissy to anyone that tries to befriend her."  
"Aww, how come?" Ari raised an eyebrow.  
"She's the kind of introvert that has one friend, and one friend only," the girl gestured to herself, "me."  
"Hm," Ari hummed, "thanks for visiting, I uh..still feel really numb."  
"You just remembered you lost loved ones, of course you're gonna feel numb and sad," Rachel sighed, "and maybe cry a lot and spend hours eating cookie dough ice cream from the carton."  
"Are you talking about me there?"  
"I might be referring to something else.."  
Ari giggled, and Rachel felt glad to see a smile on her face.

* * *

She stayed at the cafe awhile after the Rosemary's had left, Cass continued to pester her with concern to the point Ari said she needed some air.

So here she was, strolling around San Fransokyo and enjoying the crisp air. Well technically she was taking a ride on the trolley, hopefully this one wouldn't go crashing downhill.

 _God, I was so worried about how Hiro would react and he was there the whole time!_ Ari grumbled, _heck, Baymax is the most obvious member, how could I not tell!?_ Logically, she knew it was because she never put two-and-two together, that or some comic book logic reason that Fred would probably explain.

Still, she couldn't help but mentally smack herself in the face for not catching the obvious. But at the same time, Ari couldn't help but feel pride for her brother and hi- _their_ friends. They were doing a lot of good as Big Hero 6, _if only that jerk Richardson would see it instead of blackmailing them..poor Fred,_ then again, it was a sick play of karma considering he was the one who spilled the secret.

Speaking of the group, Ari felt the need to check up on them, considering they could use a friendly face in these dark times. So she took the trolley to SFIT, giving a sigh of relief when seeing the familiar building. A sharp pain in her chest froze her up, _the pain of loss,_ she mused. It was something that felt numb at this point, but it still hurt.

 _Should I even check up on them? I don't want to weigh them down with my grief,_ Ari thought, then shook her head. _No, you are not a burden Ari,_ she huffed and made a beeline for the robotics lab.

To her dismay, the group wasn't there, but luckily for her, Sara and Mikan were.

"I'm just worried about you and David," she heard Sara explain, not wanting to disturb them, Ari crept behind a shelf.  
"What? Since when did you become so paranoid?" Mikan rolled her eyes, "relax, I just took David somewhere secret _one_ time, one time!"  
"My problem is that he's not telling me," Sara frowned, "he said 'I wouldn't understand' which sounds very Mika-like to me!"  
"So you're blaming me?"  
"Yes-no! Look just tell me where you went!"  
"Nope. You wouldn't understand."  
Sara gasped, "see? That's what I'm talking about! You're hiding something."  
"It's none of your business sis," Mikan shrugged, "you're overreacting, drop it."  
"It just feels like since you said you were helping your dad out with more stuff, you've turned into a-"  
" _I said drop it sis,_ " Sara yelped, fear crept in her eyes as her sister gave her a sharp green glare.  
Ari cleared her throat, and the two Fern kids noticed her.  
"Oh uh...hi Ari," Sara stuttered.  
"What do you need mermaid?" Mikan raised an eyebrow.  
"I was looking for Hiro, and the others," Ari explained, pretending she didn't hear their argument.  
"Hm, is that so?"

"Yep!" she was starting to feel uncomfortable from Mikan's glare.  
"Mika, knock it off," Sara punched her in the shoulder, "you know what Hiro told us." she turned her attention to Ari, "he told us about what happened, well the part about your...real sorry to hear."  
"I'm doing fine," she sighed, "but do you know where Hiro went?"  
"Fred's house," Mikan shrugged, "for some reason, but they brought that gremlin along."  
 _Richardson… what is he doing now?_ But Ari kept her expression neutral, "got it, thanks!"  
"No problem," the snow-haired girl hummed, Ari waved them goodbye and went on her way to Fred's house. To see whatever the obnoxious eleven year-old was making them do now.

* * *

Ari wasn't surprised, no, she was mortified.

To find Richardson Mole, in his very own lizard costume, a smaller redder version than Fred's suit, but made fit for the little brat.  
"Brother why have you created this monstrosity?" she turned to Hiro, who looked rather squeamish.  
"He forced us to.." Hiro whispered.

Baymax was holding the little monster in his arms, "check it out everybody," Richardson bounced over to them, "much better than Fred's suit," Fred narrowed his eyes.  
"Thanks to a few changes I dictated to Hiro, I changed the color story.."  
"Uh-huh," Gogo ignored him as she stared at her phone.

"Increased the force and trajectory of the fire blast, and I added cup holders." He lifted up his hood to reveal the two cup holders next to him.  
"Whatever," Fred scoffed, "mine's still-" he paused as he watched Richardson bounce around slurping soda. "Should've thought of cup holders.."  
Ari gave him a pat on the back, "there there Fred," she narrowed her eyes at Richardson, who was punching cardboard figures of Fred, "you have the better costume."

"This is some twisted karma," he groaned, "I never should've spilled our biggest secret…" Fred glanced at Hiro, "it's like he said..people can't know who we really are."

"I know," she hummed, "which is why you didn't want to tell me."  
"Hiro wanted to, he really did," Fred told her, "but he worried it would put you in danger, and it would kill him if something bad happened to you...it would kill me too."  
"Really?" her eyes widened.  
"Yeah!" Fred patted her on the shoulder, "believe us when we saw that you're part of the group now, when Hiro told us about your parents..we were all so upset to hear, you didn't deserve that."  
She sighed, "thanks Fred," Ari wiped away a tear from her eye, "for reminding me that I still do have loved ones, you guys."

Their heartfelt moment was ruined by stupid Richardson flying around spewing fire, and it hit some of-

"Not the topiaries!" Fred exclaimed in horror.

Baymax waddled up to the flames, " _fire. Please step back,_ " he began extinguishing the flames.

"Okay that's it-" Fred began walking over to Richardson but Gogo held up a hand, her phone had chimed with a news alert.  
"High Voltage."  
Ari perked up, her eyes widened, "we've gotta suit up," Gogo told the others.  
"Yes! My first superhero mission." Richardson exclaimed, not noticing his tail was still on fire, "we are Big Hero 7!" Baymax then extinguished the fire on his suit's tail.  
Fred groaned and buried his face into his hand, Wasabi gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"This is the worst.." Ari groaned, she turned to her brother, "hey Hiro can I-"  
"No," he crossed his arms.  
"I didn't even finish my-"  
"You didn't have to," Hiro narrowed his eyes, the brown orbs staring into her soul, "I know it's about your dumb crush but-"  
"It's not stupid!" she exclaimed, "I think I can help in this situation!"  
"You're gonna get hurt," Hiro glared, the team called their Skymaxes and equipped into their superhero armor, "just stay here where it's safe."

As the team flew/bounced away, Ari narrowed her eyes, she couldn't stay put while High Voltage was still arguing! Something bad would happen!

She was going to get involved, whether her brother liked it or not.

* * *

"How are you doing down there, Richardson?"  
"This is really high!" Fred snickers, he was riding on top of Baymax alongside Hiro, with Richardson clinging onto the robot's arms, he had to admit it was satisfying to see his arch-nemesis dangle.

Hiro scanned the streets, "right there!" He pointed towards downtown, where people were booking it out of the area due to Barb zapping lightning everywhere.

"Wasabi, you see her?" he asked on the comm.

Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon were on their way via car, the vehicle had been Sara's but since Wasabi's car was still at the bay, the former didn't mind renting her own. He glanced out of the window, seeing cars zip by to get away from the lighting uphill. "Yep," he glanced left and right and began driving. Too slow for Gogo's standards as she tried to touch the console, he batted her hand away.  
"Nuh-uh, no buttons." He adjusted the rearview mirror and drummed his fingers on the wheel, despite his protests, Gogo pressed a button on the console which revved up the car.  
"Gogo!" he exclaimed as the car began speeding uphill, Honey Lemon and him screamed while Gogo relished in the adrenaline rush.

_Come on, here we go._

_We're headed to the show (oh!)_

Barb noticed the incoming car headed her way, she smirked and began zapping electricity at them.

"Wasabi look out!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. He yelped and revved the wheel to avoid the bolts

_I'm going downtown spinning round, like a clown_

Honey Lemon clicked a button on her chem purse and tossed a chem ball which created a shield that deflected the bolts.  
"Okay, that button I like," Wasabi commented, the radio continued to rap out verses but he couldn't decipher any of the words.  
Barb struck the car's wheels which caused them to skid around, stopping, they all flinched at the screeching sound.

_I'm so smart_

_I got the know-how_

They watched as Barb leapt onto another car, zapping it to life as it began driving towards them, Wasabi screamed at the oncoming vehicle. Which was stopped by Baymax arriving at the scene and punching the car to a stop, Barb then leapt into the air, Hiro and Fred watched with gaping mouths as she jumped over them.

_Wow!_

_Wow! Wow!_

Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon exited out of the car, Fred and Richardson hopped off of Baymax. "This is real, this is happening," the latter gasped.

A few lingering citizens noticed the superheroes, "It's Big Hero 6!" they cheered.  
"Seven!"  
"Uhg get off of me," Fred shook Richardson off, who jumped onto his back.

_What do you need to know?_

_Bubble-up, bubble-up_

Barb smirked, she emitted a wave of electricity that affected all the nearby electronics, cars flickered and rumbled.

_Come on, here we go._

_Here we go_

_What do you need to know?_

_Bubble-up, bubble-up_

" _Oh no,_ " Baymax pointed to a telephone pole that broke due to a wave of electricity, and was about to fall onto a passing train.  
"Baymax!" Hiro and Baymax flew into the air to catch the pole before it fell, then went back to the ground.

_What do you need to know?_

_Bubble-up, bubble-up_

_We're headed to the show_

A blast of electricity knocks the telephone pole out of Baymax's hands, snapping it in half.

"What was that?" Hiro and the team turned around as the other half of High Voltage was behind them.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Juniper swung her arms, "oh, hello mother."  
"Guess they made up," Gogo commented.  
She was proven wrong not even five seconds later when the young crime-dancer screamed and threw a bolt of lightning at her mother, who deflected the blow with another bolt, the group jumped out of the way as the blast knocked several cars over.  
"Or not.."  
Barb threw another bolt at Juniper, "I thought I told you to stay out of my way."  
"You also told me to make my bed, and I didn't do that either!" she deflected the bolt, the electricity instead bouncing off of a nearby billboard and even a wind turbine. Both of which began hurtling towards the ground.

The team split up to deflect the objects, "got it!" Honey Lemon tossed a chem ball above a group of citizens, the billboard broke and bounced off of the gooey shield, while Gogo and Wasabi began evacuating citizens still trapped in their cars.

Meanwhile, High Voltage was still blasting electricity at each other, Juniper shot a bolt at her mother, who deflected the blow and started to moonwalk into a store.  
"Oh no you don't!" She ran after Barb.

Wasabi glanced over as he helped a woman out of her car, "comic book store!"  
"My store?" Richardson gasped, recognizing the building they ran into.

"Why are they going in there?" Gogo questioned.

"I don't know, but we still have a lot of problems out here," Hiro commented as Baymax flew over and grabbed the wind turbine before it hit the street.

"Fred and I are on it."

* * *

Gogo and Fred entered the comic store, which had been utterly trashed, "alright, be cool, okay?" the latter told her.

"Out of my way!" Richardson ran into the store, pushing them to the sides, he gasped with horror at the knocked over shelves and torn comics, he picked up a half-ripped Captain Fancy comic. "Who would do such a horrible thing?"

"Villains, that's who," Fred walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Filthy villains!" He began patting Richardson on the back, but then realized who he was talking to, "wait, I don't like you."

"I don't like you either!" They both began growling at eachother, Gogo sighed, she did _not_ have time for this.  
"Boys, focus," she grabbed both of their faces, "we need to find High Voltage." Neither member of the mother-daughter dancing duo were in the store, even though they went in. While Richardson rubbed the side of his cheek that she touched, Fred walked up to a certain telephone booth, "the Mole Hole." He opens up the booth.

"Yep," Gogo begins to walk over but she then notices an item on the ground, she bends down to pick it up, it was a light blue rosemary pin, "Fred, look at this."  
He bounced over to her, "what is it-ohhh no.." he too recognized the accessory, Ari always wore this in her hair.  
"I swear, if she's down there as well," Gogo grumbled pocketing the pin, "she's gonna get it."

* * *

Fred leapt down into the Mole Hole first, he immediately got off of the chair so Gogo could land in it. Then Richardson fell down, landing on her lap, he grinned and she shoved him off. They ducked behind an arcade machine, seeing as both members of High Voltage were down there, as well as much to their annoyance, Ari.

The girl had wedged herself between both members, she looked exhausted, perhaps from running all the way to the store, how she snuck in under their noses was another question entirely. Gogo was more focused on the energy orb that Juniper was clinging to.

"Oh no you don't!"  
"Juniper, give me the orb right now!" Barb demanded.  
"After the way you betrayed me?! Never!"

Ari looked really out of place, she didn't speak a word but Gogo could see the sweat dripping off of her face as she tried to keep a distance between the bickering duo.  
"Ari…" Gogo grumbled, the girl yelped and ducked out of the way as High Voltage started spinning around, "well guess we know what they're looking for."

"Hey Gogo you were right," Fred smirked, the energy orb after all, "wait-" he hit Richardson, "why do you have that?"  
"For the museum! Obvi!"  
Gogo just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to High Voltage, and Ari, who was just with the fight with utter horror in her eyes.

Juniper climbed on top of one of the arcade games, still clinging onto the orb, "I will not ask you again!" Barb spun a move and swung electricity to the beat of her hips.

"And I will never trust you again!" Juniper gave an offended gasp and blocked the bolts with the orb, "that move is mine. You stole it!" She repeated the move at her mother, who spun out of the way. The trio behind an arcade game yelped as a bolt hit the machine, which activated the Fred-themed game.

Richardson yelped and whimpered, jumping out of the way from the bolts, he spun onto the chair and flew towards the "Wack-A-Fred" game, peeking behind it as High Voltage continued to fight for the orb.  
"Guys, stop it!" Ari pleaded, but neither Barb nor Juniper listened, they continued their tug-of-war over the orb.  
"Gotta be honest," he jumped over the game, "your tap is a little sloppy, ladies."  
Both of them paused in the middle of their tug-of-war, they had widened eyes and gave offended gasps.  
"Richardson!" Fred called out, "never insult the bad guys in an enclosed space!"  
But Richardson ignored him, "especially you," he pointed to Juniper, "shuffle-hop-step? More like shuffle-hot-mess."  
She pouted and placed the orb on an arcade game, clearly wounded by his insult, Ari narrowed her eyes at Richardson, but before she could say something in her friend's honor, Barb cut her off. "For your information, the move is called the Power Surge," she channels a bolt of electricity, "and Juniper does it perfectly!" She fired at Richardson, who jumped onto the "Whack-A-Fred" game, he yelped as the heads bounced him around.

Barb prepared a bolt of electricity to blast him with, as she fired at him Fred leapt into the air and pushed Richardson out of the way, the bolt rickeshed and hit one of the cardboard Freds, slicing his head off.  
"That could've been me!" He gasped.  
"Yeah, so stay down!" Fred grabs him by the hood and runs as Barb fires more electricity at them.

Juniper danced towards her mother, both of them were doing their routine on instinct, "you really think I do it perfectly?"

"Of course I do," Barb told her, she sent a bolt that shocked Fred and Richardson, who ducked behind the arcade game Gogo was hiding at. Ari noticed the trio over there and slowly began creeping around that game, but not too close.  
"But then, why did you steal it?" Juniper questioned.  
"Because...I can't do my move anymore," Barb lifted up her leg, "my extension just isn't what it used to be."  
"Aww, you could've just told me."  
"I was embarrassed. And I thought you wouldn't want to crime-dance with me anymore." They complete their routine, electricity shimmers from the arcade machines as they spew out dozens of dollar bills.  
Juniper stared at her mother with shock, she sobbed. "But we're a team, every move I have, I learned from you!"

Barb was silent, then she started to cry, tears dribbled down her cheeks, "oh, come here!"

Her daughter started to cry as well, "I love you, mom!" she began running to her.  
"I love you too!"

And for some weird reason Gogo started to hear some music play from one of the arcade games, how? She didn't care at this point.

_You were out of my life._

_But always in my heart._

_Whoa, whoa_

She gave a deadpan stare while Fred and Richardson sniffled, in the corner of her eye even Ari was getting emotional.

_Let's get our acts together_

_This time is forever_

_Together forever._

_You and me._

Mother and daughter reunite in a tearful embrace, "that's why I think it's time we got the team back together," Barb sniffled.

_Let's get our acts together_

_Never say never_

They both reach out to the orb, which shimmers and floats into the air, the micro-batteries fall out of their gauntlets as electricity flows.

_But forever together_

_We could be_

_Together forever_

_Now!_

"What are you doing?" Gogo questioned Fred, who was still sniffling.  
"Not..crying?"

"Uhg! Get it together!" She gestures to High Voltage. "We need a plan, they're charging up to full power with that thing."

_Together forever!_

"I've got an idea."  
"Um, what are you thinking?"  
She pointed to a storage vault, "cut them off from the orb."  
"Ah."  
"Ready?"  
"Ready!" Fred began moving into position as Gogo skidded towards High Voltage.  
They noticed her incoming, "together, we're High Voltage! Power Surge!" Gogo skated on all fours and dodged the electricity being thrown at her.

_High Voltage!_

She skids around them and tosses her disks as the electrical currents attach them to the orb.

_High Voltage!_

Both of them groan as they slam into the arcade games due to the disks pinning them to the wall.

_High Voltage!_

Gogo picks up the "Whack-A-Fred" mallet and jumps to hit the orb, but Juniper in a last-ditch effort, tosses a bolt that makes her hit the ground.

_High Voltage!_

But she leaps into the air and manages to whack the orb into it's storage unit like a pinball machine.

Fred picked up the batteries, "hm, you probably should've kept these as backup."

Juniper flinched, "oh Mom, are we going back to jail?" the flash of fear returned in her eyes.  
"At least we'll be together baby," her mother comforted her.  
They both cringed as Gogo slammed the mallet down, "woman up." She told them, in the corner of her eye she saw Ari slinking around the corner.  
She didn't get very far, because Gogo skated over and grabbed her shoulder, "ow!" she yelped.

"You, are in _major_ trouble kiddo," she glared at her.

Ari just squeaked, staring up in mild horror.

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Owwww!" Ari whined as Gogo dragged her outside of the comic book store by the _ear_. High Voltage was also pushed out of the store by Fred, who then returned to the Mole Hole to clean up.

Wasabi and Honey Lemon were waiting outside, both of them very shocked to see Ari. "What is she..?" the former gestured with his hands.  
"Making stupid life choices," Gogo shoved her out, Ari yelped, "make sure she doesn't make a run for it."

Next to her, Juniper cringed at how Ari was being treated by the superheroes, she opened her mouth to speak up but decided against it, flashing a sympathy look to her friend.  
Honey Lemon's fingers brushed her chem purse, "should I..?"

"Ah, no!" Juniper spoke up for _that_ , "not the goop! Please no!"  
Gogo crossed her arms and scoffed, "fine..but if you step one toe out of line before the police show up.." she drew a finger to her throat, both members of High Voltage gulped.  
"Really?…" Ari whined, "you're rather mean today."  
"And you, Ariel 'if I knew your middle name I'd say it' Rosemary," Gogo turned to her, "what on earth were you thinking?!"  
"Clearly she wasn't," Wasabi frowned.  
"Now, now, don't judge so harshly-" Barb tried to speak up in her honor, both superheroes were having none of that.  
"Stay out of this!"

Honey Lemon stared in silence, she never saw either Gogo nor Wasabi this angry in their life.. _then again, Ari could've been badly hurt by all the electricity.  
_ "You could've been killed!" Gogo voiced the thought aloud, "how would your brother feel if something bad happened to you?!"  
Ari had the decency to look guilty, her head dropped, "I just… it was because..."  
"You're in love, yes," she rolled her eyes, "didn't anyone teach you sometimes you must lead with your head instead of your heart-"

"It's not because of that!" her outburst shocked Gogo, "well..partially, but not the full reason."  
"And what's that?" Wasabi crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed with a mixture of anger and disappointment.  
"Well..around the time of their arguing..because I was there when they stole stuff from Krei-Tech.." Ari murmured, sparing a glance to High Voltage, "I remembered that uh...the last memory of my parents before they died was that they were having a bad argument. They fought with anger and non stop bickering for hours as I watched helplessly, then..they were gone.." a tear dribbled down her chin, "so I thought if I remembered _that_... what if the same happens to Barb? Or Juniper? I... I don't wanna watch helplessly again.."  
"Ari.." Juniper frowned, she and her mother had horrified looks at her confession. So did Wasabi and Honey Lemon, small tears from the latter, Gogo was in shock.

"You..that was the last memory of your mom and dad?" her anger just went away at the _broken_ look in Ari's blue eyes, "that's horrible.."  
"Judge me for my choices sure," she sniffled, "but..I was just so _scared_ and I remembered during that and I was worried it would repeat-"  
Before any of the superheroes could react, Juniper ran to Ari's side and pulled her into a hug. "Hey Ari..don't cry, sure my mom and I would argue but we would _never_ hurt each other like that, ever.."  
Gogo attempted to speak up in protest but Honey Lemon cut her off, "let them be.." she murmured, "she was there for her when we weren't."  
"I hate it when you're right.." she sighed.

Not a single word was spoken as Ari hugged Juniper, and not a syllable was said when Barb joined the hug as well.

Ari was the first to let go of the hug, "m' sorry," she turned to the superheroes, "I was just scared it was going to happen again and I.."  
"Don't apologize," Honey Lemon patted her shoulder, "we understand, right?" she gestured to Gogo and Wasabi, who gave nods.  
"Just stop doing stupid things for the name of love," Gogo shrugged.  
"Okay.." she nodded, Ari then realized the incoming sound of police sirens and groaned, "uhg.." She was hoping she'd have a little more time with Barb and Juniper, guess not.

Juniper also heard the incoming sirens, and sighed, "aww.." she turned to Ari, "well, you'll still visit, right?"  
"Of course!" Ari nodded, "but uh..maybe stop doing illegal stuff so I don't have to visit you and your mom in prison all the time?"

The superheroes snickered behind her.. _traitors.._ Ari grumbled. But to her surprise, Juniper giggled as well, "well, I'll take your advice into consideration." She gave her one last hug, "see you Ari."  
"See you," Ari smiled, "and see you later too Barb."  
The woman had a small smile on her face, "oh, you are honestly such a dear."

A thought suddenly came to her mind, "hey how did you break out of jail again?"

Mother and daughter exchanged glances, "weird story about that," Juniper had an awkward smile.  
Ari frowned, "what kind of weird story?"  
"So one night, this security guy made the rounds but he didn't look like a guard," she paused, then turned to her mother, "Mama?"  
"He placed our gauntlets in the cell, and they had batteries in them, but they ran out quickly," Barb finished, "the guard didn't look familiar, so it was weird."  
"And he had a glowing face." Juniper added, "really creepy, amiright?"

Ari turned around, Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon gasped, with the latter mouthing "Obake," then she gasped too.

"Right, weird story," Ari sweatdropped. _guess that creep broke them out too like he did Momakase, thank god they didn't try looking for him, I would hate it for my friend to be working under a higher evil. Though I wonder why Obake needs supervillains, it's really weird.._

She and Honey Lemon waved as the police took High Voltage back to prison, Hiro and Baymax had finished cleaning up the street to grab the batteries, then flew over to Krei-Tech before he could react to Ari sitting by the sidewalk.

"Am I still in trouble?" she asked Gogo, who shook her head.  
"Kiddo, I was just really worried about you," she turned to her.  
"We all were," Honey Lemon added.  
"Yeah, bottling up your emotions like that isn't healthy, next time, please talk to one of us, okay?" Wasabi placed a hand on her shoulder.  
Ari sniffled, "th-thanks guys," she wiped away a tear, "I'm sorry I scared you."  
"It's okay Ari," Honey Lemon told her, "you're forgiven."

They all turned their heads as Fred bursted out of the shop, "Fred what?-" Wasabi was cut off by a startled alarm.  
"Guys! Richardson got zapped by the orb and he was knocked unconscious!"

* * *

"He didn't have a heart attack..right Baymax?"  
" _His heart rate is normal._ "  
"Good to know.." Ari sighed, as much as she hated Richardson, she didn't want him to get mortally wounded..much, he totally deserved to get his store trashed after what he did to Fred and her friends, "even I know not to touch the energy orb."  
"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
"Hey! That better not be an insult mister," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"It wasn't!" he held up his hands, "but I was asking scientifically-wise, of course you know not to touch a dangerous energy orb common sense-wise."  
She placed a hand to her hip, "let's see..I forgot all the science mumbo jumbo..but something something programmed specifically to work for High Voltage something something DNA test something something painful consequences if you touch it without insulation."  
The others gave her strange glances and raised eyebrows, "I told you I forgot all the science stuff! I have an average IQ!"  
"I know how you feel," Fred told her, "I'm aware that I'm not the smartest person in the room, so it's hard to remember all the technical details."

Richardson stirred, Baymax placed an ice pack on his head as he woke up, " _hello, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?_ "

"I'm not in any pain," he got up, "why are you guys here?"  
The group exchanged puzzled looks, "High Voltage attacked your store…?" Gogo was the one who spoke.  
"Wait, was Big Hero 6 here? W-where are they?"

"You don't remember?" Honey Lemon asked him.  
"Remember what?"  
" _Fred revealed to you that we are all members of Big-_ "  
"Uh-uh big uh, big nothing!" Hiro cut the robot off, "one big nothing!"  
Richardson frowned, but didn't question it.  
"He doesn't remember," Honey Lemon chuckled.  
"That's a relief," Ari sighed, _no more blackmail..and he wasn't going to keep his end of the bargain!_ Fred has mentioned Richardson said how he was going to go public with their secret, she felt a blood vessel pop after hearing that.  
" _Perhaps the unique nature of the orb's caused memory loss,_ " Baymax stated, Hiro gestured a "cut it out" motion to him.  
Wasabi nudged him with a broom, "okie-dokie let's go with that."  
Fred walked up to Richardson as he held up his fingers, "hey buddy, need a hand?" he offered.

Richardson scoffed and nudged it away, "pfft, not from you loser."  
"Excuse me, but I just-" he breathed deeply, "staying calm…" Fred attempted to walk away.  
"You just what?" Richardson stood up, Ari mentally prayed for Fred to not lose his cool, and spill the beans _again_.  
"Do not engage, do not engage... anyone have any crackers?!"

* * *

"So." Mikan whistled to her dad, both of them were watching a news report in his lair. "You're not gonna use High Voltage?"  
"No." Obake turned off the report detailing their arrest. While he thought they had some potential when he broke them out, they were too… emotional for his plans. "What a waste of time."  
"At least it was funny watching Big Hero 6 run around." She giggled. "And Ari, wonder why she's infatuated with the daughter so much. That's not gonna end so good…"

"All love stories usually do. You're better off not focusing on that pointless stuff."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sienna Kline: Ok remember that funky pop song that plays whenever HV does a routine show?

Hiro Hamada: Yes..

TheLittleMermaid: Mhhmm!

Sienna Kline: I found it online

Fredzilla: Oh wow

TheLittleMermaid: Omg send it to me please!  
Sienna Kline: Of course

Hiro Hamada: Great she's gonna sing it non stop now...Sienna why

Honey Lemon: Ari promise not to annoy your brother too much with it

TheLittleMermaid: K

Hiro Hamada: -_-

Fredzilla: I am so proud

* * *

"And after that, we became Big Hero 6, and the rest is history."  
"Mhmm.."  
"You okay Ari?" Hiro and the group went to Fred's house after cleaning up the mess with Richardson aka get all of Fred's stuff back, burn the atrocious suit, and cancel the interview Richardson had with "Good Morning, San Fransokyo."

"Yeah, just give me a second," Ari walked over to the couch, grabbed one of the pillows, and began screaming at the top of her lungs into it.

The others gave awkward glances, Hiro just frowned as his sister let out all of her shocked emotions out onto that pillow since learning their secret.  
"OH MY GOD!" She exclaimed when done with all her yelling, "everything makes so much more sense now!"

" _You should breathe now,_ " Baymax told her, Ari started panting and gasping for air, she sat down next to Hiro.  
"Do you have any questions?" he asked, she held up a hand, gesturing "wait a minute," and spoke again once she caught her breath.  
"Not..really? I mean it'll take awhile for me to process, but I'm chill with it," she sighed, "you guys do a lot of good for the city and help a lot of people, I'll do my best to cover you for Aunt Cass though."  
"That would be great..." he chuckled, "I'm not the best liar."  
"Oh now you admit it."  
"Hey!"

Next to them, the others chuckle, "thanks for being patient until we told you Ari," Honey Lemon smiled. "We would've explained everything sooner, but.."  
"Mole," Fred gritted his teeth, "uhg! I can't believe he tried blackmailing his way into the team."  
"Which was your fault," Gogo pointed out.  
"You got me there."  
"At least he forgot the whole thing," Wasabi gave a sigh of relief, "it would be really weird to call ourselves Big Hero 7."  
"Do you know how many fanfictions of you guys that are out there who have people self-inserting themselves onto the team?" Ari raised her hand, "one too many.."  
"You know guys... I wouldn't mind changing our name to Big Hero 7," Hiro spoke up, the others gawked at him, "if you were the seventh member."

"What?!"

"I mean who else would we add?" Gogo shrugged. "Definitely not Mole."  
"Isn't that bad for her health?" Honey Lemon argued.  
" _I agree. That would be counterproductive to her recovery,_ " Baymax pointed out, " _A head injury may worsen her amnesia._ "  
"He's got a point," she gestured to Baymax, the offer was tempting, but she didn't have the heart, or the guts. "I think being a seventh wheel is good enough for me. Plus, what superpower would I use? The ocean?" She giggled, "but thanks for having confidence in my hypothetical superhero career brother."  
He chuckled, "just saying, you'd be a better member than Richardson."  
"That isn't such a high bar."

Fred cleared his throat, "can I bring up something," he turned to Ari, "you..visit..High Voltage? In prison? This whole time?!"  
Ari's eyes widened, "um..noo?"

"I have so many questions," Wasani gasped. "Mostly 'why' questions, but questions!"  
"She totally does," Gogo added, "Mikan took her once before we went bird-watching, guess she went again and again."  
"Gogo you promised not to tell anyone that!"  
"You said you wouldn't do it again, but here we are."  
Honey Lemon glanced nervously to Hiro, who had a neutral expression on his face, "did you know about this?"  
"I knew she was sending letters. But I'm pretty sure it's harmless, and I've learned my lesson about boundaries at this point," Hiro sighed. "But that doesn't mean I like it."  
Ari buried her face into a pillow, her cheeks turning red, "this is the worst.."  
"Hey I'm not mad," he patted her shoulder, "just tell me next time? Okay?"  
"Okay.." she mumbled, "um, can we go get Yaki Taco now? I'm hungry."  
The group chuckled, "I can get the tacos," Wasabi offered, "I still have Sara's car."  
"Which we managed to fix," Gogo pointed out.  
"Don't tell Sara! She'll kill me if she finds out I got her car scratched."  
"I doubt she'll get mad at you," she muttered, "I'll come with you."

As the both of them returned with tacos, Ari was sitting between Hiro and Fred listening to their superhero stories as Baymax rattled on the health pros and cons of their food. Honey Lemon was chattering with Gogo, the latter had a warm smile on her face as Honey Lemon ranted about her latest work. Wasabi just ate his tacos and listened to Baymax's speech.

As Ari leaned beside Hiro, she felt a warmth in her chest, she could almost cry of joy at how _loved_ she felt at that moment. Even though she remembered the loss of her parents, she still had a family with Hiro and their friends.

Nothing was going to change that, not any villain in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes Big Hero 7. *sniffle* Sorry this one is long... I feel a little bad lol
> 
> Also I had to add the song lyrics in this ep. You can't stop me! Well as much as I could decipher. Disney pls give us the show's soundtrack!
> 
> This chapter is just "Ari no" and "ARI YES" and the gang chewing her out
> 
> Now for some explanations!
> 
> -Ari is a little "iffy" on how her parents died, could be murder, but she thinks maybe they killed each other. And Barb and Juniper's argument reminded her of that so she freaked and thought history was gonna repeat, so it's why she was really involved. Poor gal : (, least she got a hug.
> 
> -And yeah, I hc that Obake broke HV out of prison but didn't collect since he didn't think they'd be useful for his plans. (I think I got the idea somewhere on a blog, can't remember). I mean... they got help breaking out in S2 so... 83c
> 
> -The scene of Ari and gang chatting about the secret(tm) equals no Ari will not join Big Hero 6 thus creating Big Hero 7. Just no, nope. Not falling down that rabbit hole. No offense to people who write "Big Hero 7" but ehhh, not my cup of tea. So she's the seventh wheel *rimshot*
> 
> Next week is an og chapter, and it's our girl's birthday : D


	45. Chapter 44: Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A birthday sleepover and some awkward interactions  
> Don't do jinxes kids

Sara was beginning to worry for her siblings, at first, Mikan was the one who gave her concern. The snow-haired girl would disappear from time to time, claiming to be on "errands" for her dad, and her change in demeanor to a more colder and aloof attitude brought more worry, especially how she started treating their other friends. But now David was beginning to worry her, he had apparently joined Mikan in her disappearing act, and would claim "you wouldn't understand," when asking for information.

"David, are you sure your trips with Mika are fine?" Sara asked for the tenth time.

He hesitated, deep concern fueled in her chest, "It-it's fine sis, besides, you wouldn't get it."  
"I just worry, because I love you," she sighed, "I guess I can tone it down, but there's no need to keep secrets from me."  
"Mika said you'd only get hurt.." David mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for her to hear. _Oh god what has our sister gotten herself into?_

Their lab space was disturbed when the door opened, it was Hiro. "Hey guys!" He waved, "I'm not interrupting any projects, right?"  
"Not really," David answered, "What's up buddy?"  
Hiro clapped his hands, "so, Fred's having a sleepover at his house this weekend, and he wanted me to invite you guys. Mikan's invited too, but my sister's passing the message to her since she's in the bio labs on the other side of campus."  
"Ooh a sleepover!" Sara squealed, "reminds me of the time I used to go on sleepovers at _your_ house!"  
"Yeah," he chuckled, "remember that one time you got sick of Tadashi's snoring and you poured a glass of water on him because you were so tired."  
"Oh my god! He was so mad!"

They both laughed, "what's the sleepover occasion for?" David questioned.  
"It's uh...a surprise!" Hiro exclaimed, "you'll see if you attend."  
"Well don't worry, we'll be going," Sara wrapped an arm around her brother, "I just hope Mika does, she's a stick in the mud sometimes."

* * *

On the other side of campus in the bio labs, Mikan sneezed.

"Achoo!" she rubbed her nose, "this has been happening lately.." Then without warning, Ari ran into her lab, "woah-woah-woah slow down mermaid!" she held up her hands, "dangerous stuff here!" She gently nudged Ari out of the labs.  
"But Mikan! I have to tell you something!" Ari exclaimed.  
"You can tell, but I don't want you to get hurt by the stuff in my lab, safety first is my motto."  
"It is?"  
"No, it's actually something else, not gonna tell you."  
"Awww.."  
Mikan crouched to Ari's level, "so, what is it mermaid?"  
"Fred's having a sleepover this weekend and you're invited!" Ari exclaimed, "it would be really great if you go!"  
"Oh..uh..this weekend?" she paused, "I can't go."  
Ari's eyes dropped, "awww, why not?"  
"I'm doing errands, for my dad," Mikan explained, she didn't have time for pointless sleepovers anymore, "it's stuff for my little brother and sister."  
"David and Sara?"  
"No, my other brother and sister," the ones her dad adopted, "they need some..things and I have to get them around that time so..family priorities."  
"Oh..okay, I understand," Ari gave a slow nod, "I'd do the same for Hiro.."  
Mikan ruffled her head, "he's glad to have someone like you in his life, someone that isn't overbearing as much as his other friends," she glanced away, "sometimes..well..I can see he's bothered by their caring sometimes."  
"Really?" Ari's eyes wide, she didn't pick up on that, _Mikan's really smart to catch that._

"Yep, someone his age who he can relate to, you're being a good sister on that," she chuckled, "keep being there for him, alright mermaid?"  
"Don't worry I will!" She began to exit the hallway, "and good luck with your thing! I'll miss you at the sleepover!"  
Mikan waved, "I will," when Ari rounded the corner, she huffed, "dad was right, her bond with Hiro could be useful. Eh, they're probably going to do boring sleepover things anyway, who cares if I miss it?"

* * *

Hiro had gone back to his lab to polish up some schoolwork, he glanced over to Baymax, the robot was resting in his charger. He chuckled and thought back to the time he tried overclocking the robot's supercapacitors, the result? Baymax on caffeine speaking rapid health facts for the whole day, "congrats you made him hyperactive," Ari claimed. Looking back, it was a funny memory.  
"Hey Hiro!" Speaking of his little sister, she entered his lab, "bad news, Mikan can't come to the sleepover, said she was doing family stuff."  
"Hmm," he crossed his arms, feeling anger at the older student, "did you tell her why for the sleepover?"  
"No, I didn't want to distract her from family stuff," Ari explained, "I'd do the same for you.."  
"Okay?" he flinched, "anyways, David and Sara are coming, and I think David's gonna bring his girlfriend."  
"Yay!" she beamed, "I already asked Rachel if she could come, and she might bring Katie, so that just leaves-"  
"Don't remind me," he grumbled, "do you have to invite her?"

"Yes!" Ari exclaimed, "I want Karmi to come, she's my friend," she crossed her arms, "you can live for _one_ night. Just don't antagonize her, okay?"  
Hiro groaned, "you should be asking Karmi to be nice, she's so annoying!" He got up but his foot hit the desk, "ow!"  
Baymax chimed to life, " _Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,_ " the robot waddled over to him, " _I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said 'ow.'_ "

He just facepalmed.

 _Why couldn't Ari invite Karmi to sleepover herself?_ Hiro grumbled as he walked down to Karmi's lab. His sister was apparently too shy to ask Karmi, he didn't blame her, Karmi could be scary at times. Her reddish-brown eyes had a look that could kill when she was angry, he hoped to not see that glare today.

He didn't get very far, Karmi was walking down the hallway as he rounded a corner, Hiro took a deep breath before speaking. "Hey, Karmi!" He called out to her.

Karmi halted, her expression grew irritated, "what do you want Hiro? On your way to destroy one of my viruses again?"  
"Hey!" he held up a hand in offense, "first of all, that was an accident and I apologized! Second, this is about Ari!"

He saw her eyes go wide, "oh...is she okay?"

"Yeah, kind of," he bowed his head down, "did she tell you about her...memory problems?"  
"It came up, yes," Karmi nodded, "but I don't want to bother her with that, I bet she gets a lot of pestering from you already."  
He rolled his eyes, "well this is about her," _here it goes.._ "We're having a sleepover at my friend Fred's house, and Ari really wants you to come."

Karmi hesitated, her mouth drew a thin line, "I'm not..I.." she stuttered, "I can't go to those kinds of things."

Hiro huffed, he could just say "fine" and call it a day, but his love for Ari triumphed over his dislike of Karmi, "okay I wasn't going to use this reason because my sister told me not to, but I'll make an exception for her best friend."

"Wait she calls me her best friend?"  
"Yes," he frowned, "Ari really wants her best friend at the sleepover because it's her birthday that night."

Her eyes widened, "what?" Karmi gasped, "and..she wants me to go?"  
Hiro wondered why the biotech major had a hard time believing that, _didn't she know how much my sister values their friendship?_ "Yeah, it'll make her feel happy if you came."  
"Fine," Karmi huffed, "this better not be a prank or something Genius Boy, or else.."  
"It's not, I promise!" Hiro held up his hands, "look, we can tolerate each other for one night for Ari's sake, truce?" He offered one of his hands, and Karmi reluctantly shook it."  
"Truce," there was a small smile on her face, "but only for the sleepover! And you better not play any tricks or something!"  
"I was just going to say the same to you…"

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat

Ariel: Just double-checking, there's no robot invasion or the city's about to explode today, right?

Chop Chop: I hope not!

Speed Queen: Ari, pal, calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen on your birthday

Flame Jumper: It's a common trope in superhero history however! Like in Captain Fancy #39 where a supervillain crashed his birthday party!  
Ariel: Noooooooo ;-;

Captain Cutie: Fred I s2g you're not helping

Chem Girl: Dw, we did extra night patrol last night so crime should be down today! You have nothing to worry about

Chop Chop: Don't jinx it.

Ariel: I'm so excited! I am now your age Hiro! Muahhaha

Captain Cutie: I'm still about 6 months older than you, pretty soon I'll be 15 and you'll be stuck at 14

Ariel: Darnit! Don't remind me! Let me have my moment!  
Captain Cutie: Never.

* * *

Ari groaned at the phone, "Hiroooo," she turned to her brother, who was doing some sciencey things on the computer, "why you gotta be mean?"  
He chuckled at her expense, "just trying to lighten the mood," Hiro turned the computer off, "I can finish this another time..Ari, are you doing okay today?"  
"Other than the fact I'm worried something will go wrong and Aunt Cass is most likely making some sort of sugary surprise that'll rot my teeth for lunch, not really." She shrugged, "I know you've been worried since I found out what happened to my parents, but you've lost yours too, right? So I don't want to rain on your parade."  
Hiro frowned, "It's okay to feel sad Ari, besides I don't really remember _my_ parents, they died when I was three and Aunt Cass doesn't like talking about them. At least you got to know yours."  
"Mhmm," she gave a slow nod, "I do feel sad, like I still feel normal-ish? But every now and then I get this sad mood."  
"I feel ya," he walked over to the spot she was sitting on his bed, and sat next to her, "do you know who.."  
"No, I don't remember who shot them," Ari's gaze darkened, "but maybe I'll find out soon."  
He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, they stayed silent for a few moments.

"Happy birthday Ari!" The tense mood was ruined by Cass walking up the stairs holding a small strawberry cake with lots of whipped cream, sprinkles, and...blueberries? "Thought you might like your cake early since you're going to spend your evening at Fred's house!"  
"Aww," Ari took the cake, she licked some of the frosting on her fingers, "it's so good! Thanks, you didn't have to by the way. I know I'm not really part of the fam-"  
"Nonsense Ari! Don't say that!" Cass interrupted her, "Hiro, why don't you tell Ari what we both got her."  
"Oh, oh right!" Hiro bolted down the stairs, Ari tilted her head. _What on earth? He acted a little weird._ He came back ten seconds later, with Baymax and Mochi even.  
" _Hello, Ari,_ " the robot waved, " _on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your birthday?_ "  
"I'd have to go with a nine," she answered, "needs more sugar." Mochi hopped next to her on the bed, meowing in agreement and trying to swipe her cake, she playfully nudged the cat back.

Hiro had an envelope in his hands, "well this isn't a cake, but I think you'll like it," he handed it to her.

Ari opened the envelope, and gasped.

Small tears began pouring from her eyes, "w-what?" She gasped, inside the contents of the envelope, were adoption papers.  
"I had Elio help out a little," Cass explained, "he said it was fine since you had been staying at our place for so long, and got us the papers."  
"All you have to do is sign right here," Hiro pointed to the bottom of the paper and handed her a pen, "then you're part of the family! Well legally at least, because we've been considering you part of our family for weeks now Ar-"

He was cut off by her wrapping him and Cass in a warm, loving hug, "T-thank you so much!" She cried, "this is better than cake!"

Baymax joined the hug, " _there there, it is alright to cry Ari._ "

Ari wiped away her tears, "I'm not sad or anything just.." she sniffled, "you-you really want to adopt me?" Her voice cracked.  
"Why wouldn't we?" Cass frowned.  
"I-I don't want to replace Tadashi.."

Hiro grabbed her hand, "hey, you're not replacing anybody," he told her, "Tadashi will still be part of us, and he's still a part of our family. We're just making it a little bigger, that's all."  
"Really?"  
"Absolutely," warmth shined in his brown eyes, "I love you Ari."  
She smiled back, and signed the paper, "I love you too Hiro," she turned to Cass, "and I love you too Aunt Cass, and Baymax, and Mochi."  
"Meow!" Mochi purred, nuzzling her arm.  
"Umm..." Ari turned to the cake, "I'm not gonna be able to eat this, so do you guys wanna share?"  
" _I am a robot, I do not need to eat._ " Baymax stated.

They all burst into laughter.

* * *

_Later that evening..._

"Are we there yet?"  
"Karmi you've been asking us that for the last five minutes, chill."  
"I'm doing it because it annoys you."  
"Hey!"  
"Guys!"  
"Sorry Ari." It was close to nighttime, the sun starting to dip behind the city skyscrapers, Hiro and Ari had picked up SFIT's other teen genius on their way to Fred's house. The latter getting mildly annoyed with their bickering before they even _got_ there!

"I know you guys aren't friends, you don't get along, the other person is the worst blah blah blah," she ranted, "but still! Take it easy for one night."  
Karmi responded first, "fine, anything for the birthday girl."  
"What?" Ari blinked, "how did you know-" she narrowed her eyes at her brother, "Hiro…"  
"Hey! It was the only way I could get her to come." He defended himself, then stopped at a house. "we're here."

Karmi glanced left and right to observe their surroundings, "wait, this is the upper class area."  
"I know." Hiro had a smug grin on his face.

"Weren't we going to your friend Fred's house?"  
"Mhmm," Ari nodded, sharing the same grin.

"So why?-"

Heathcliff opened the door, "good evening, welcome to Master Frederick's slumber party."  
"Hey Heathcliff," both Hiro and Ari waved, Karmi's jaw just dropped.

"Wha-what-wha?" She looked to be at a loss of words, still processing as she was nudged through the door and into the house.

Hiro snickered, it reminded him of the time he and the others discovered Fred was part of the one percent. Granted part of the shock was due to near death by Yokai, but still.  
"Yeahhh you get used to it," Ari commented, "Fred's super chill once you get to know him, but try not touching any of the paintings."  
He leaned in to glance at Karmi, who was still shell-shocked, "too much for the former youngest genius at school?" Hiro teased.  
She growled, gaining back some of her momentum, "hey! I'm not scared of anything," Karmi crossed her arms, "just didn't expect that your friend is a rich kid."  
"At least he doesn't act like the snobby kind," Ari smiled.  
"That's a good thing."

* * *

They entered Fred's room, where the gang was already there, as well as most of the invited guests.

"Hey guys!" Sara greeted them, she noticed the third party, "oh, hey Karmi!"  
"Hi," Karmi replied coolly, not sparing a glance.

Ari squinted, "wait, where's David? And I don't see Sienna either."  
Sara deflated, "Sienna got into a car accident, and David went to see her in the hospital."  
"That's horrible!" Hiro gasped, "is she okay?"  
"She'll live, it's just an overnight stay, but David's going crazy over the fact his girlfriend is injured," Sara sighed, "Sienna's a lucky lady to have my brother as her Prince Charming for sure."

"David has a girlfriend?" Karmi whispered under her breath. Ari turned to her and shrugged.

Karmi was stuck by Ari's side as the group greeted her. She felt rather... overwhelmed with the sudden attention. The others seemed to pick up on that, and began chatting amongst themselves.

A young girl with a rosemary accessory similar to Ari and bright green eyes walked up to her, "you must be Karmi," the girl greeted her, "I'm Rachel Rosemary."  
"Oh," she felt a little more comfortable, "nice to meet you."  
"Hey Rach!" Ari waved, "you'll like Karmi, she's the best!" She leaned in, "Also she's KheartsQT."  
"Wait, really?" Rachel gasped, "the one who writes that funny fanfiction about Big Hero 6?"  
Karmi chuckled nervously, "yeah..you read it?"  
"I love it!" the girl smirked, "Katie loves it as well."  
"Katie?" She then noticed the blue cat curled in Rachel's arms and gasped, "oh my god that's Katie the Talking Cat! I love her so much!"  
"Joy, another fan," the cat yawned, she deflated.  
Rachel huffed, "Katie... be nice, you promised."  
"Fiiine," the cat hopped down, "I'm hungry." Katie turned to Fred, "you gonna order food now?"  
Fred blinked, "oh right! Heathcliff, call the pizza place!"

"Right away sir," Heathcliff grabbed the phone, and began dialing a number.

"Um, so what are you gonna order?" Ari turned to her friend, "I'm just gonna go for one with mushrooms, those are good."  
"I'm gonna get pineapple," Karmi replied, just as Hiro said the exact same thing, she turned to him, "jinx."  
"Wh-what-hey!" He crossed his arms.  
"You owe me a soda," she gave a smug smirk.

Hiro groaned, "uhg, fine, I'll buy you one."

As the pizza place answered, Fred walked up to his butler, "I'll take it," he answered the call, "Hi, I'd like to order a few pizzas delivered to the Frederickson manor..."

* * *

Fred finished taking everyone's orders, and soda debts. "Okay it should be here in about half an hour." he told the group.

"We're gonna die of hunger," Katie dramatically exclaimed.  
"Katie!" Rachel huffed.  
"Maybe we could play a party game to pass the time," Wasabi suggested.  
"Oooh I got one!" Sara clapped her hands, "Truth or Dare!"  
Gogo groaned, "sounds fun," she rolled her eyes.  
"It'll be fiiine!" the blonde wrapped her arm around Gogo, "we can even set up some rules!"  
"First one should be no "kiss so-and-so" dares," Honey Lemon glanced over to where the teens were, "especially since we have some kids in the group."  
"Hey!" Hiro exclaimed.  
"And if you can't tell the truth or do a dare, you have to take a drink out of this." Sara held up a can of soda.  
"What is it?" Fred squinted.  
"It's called beverly," Sara smirked, "it's a bitter drink that's from Italy."  
The group groaned, "hey! There has to be some penalty!"

They all formed a circle sitting on the rug, Karmi was next to Ari and Honey Lemon.  
"So, who wants to go first?" Fred questioned.  
"Me!" Ari raised her hand.  
"Alright, birthday girl gets to go first," Fred smiled, "Ari, truth or dare?"  
"Truth!" She smirked.  
"Why do you have a fear of eels?" Hiro questioned, the girl frowned.  
"Because they're slimy, gross, and yucky!" She stuck her tongue out, "also I kind of remember going to an aquarium and in the super dark zone I stared out into the tank, and then a stupid slimy eel jumpscared me!... I might've had to go to the bathroom after that," her cheeks reddened.  
"Oh." Hiro blinked, getting the gist.  
"Hey, there's no shame in admitting you-"  
"Thanks for the support Wasabi!" Ari blurted out, "um, I think I wanna ask...Gogo!"  
She popped her gum, "alright, I wanna take a dare."  
"Okay.." Ari hummed, "I dare you to… give Fred a hug!"  
Gogo chuckled, "oh, is that all," she walked over to where Fred was sitting next to Wasabi and Hiro, "c'mere knucklehead," and wrapped him into a hug.  
"Aww," Fred smiled, Gogo then ended the hug and sat back down.  
"Easy," she smirked, "Fred, truth or dare."

"Truth!" He held up a finger.  
"Okay," Gogo hummed, "when did you get your fear of spiders?"  
"Is fear of animals a theme of tonight's game?" Katie muttered under her breath.  
Fred took a deep breath, "when I was in kindergarten, I got bit by a spider. And I thought it was gonna kill me because one of my classmates said spider bites were fatal! It also hurt a lot! I had to go to the nurse and it was just the worst Gogo! It was just the worst."  
"I'll bet it was.." she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Wasabi!" He pointed to his friend, who leaned back a little, "truth or dare!"  
"Um..dare?"  
"I dare you to lick the rug!"

"Ewww gross!" Wasabi scrunched his nose, "no way, I'm not doing it."  
Sara gave a smug smirk, "then it's time for the beverly!" She poured some of the soda in a shot glass, then handed it to him, "drink up."  
He frowned, gulped it down, then curled his lip, "uhhg it's so bitter!" Wasabi stuck his tongue out, "where did you get such an awful drink?"  
"Aunt Sally knows a guy that works at a bar and they-"  
"Forget I asked."

* * *

Wasabi glanced around the room, "Honey Lemon, truth or dare?"  
"Truth!" She hummed.  
"Which of the supervillains on the news do you like the least?" Ari perked up, she narrowed her eyes at Honey Lemon as the gears rolled in her eyes.  
"Hmm, I don't like the supervillains because I think they could do more productive stuff," she pondered, "but I'd have to go with Globby, I am very disappointed in his life choices."  
"Same," Rachel added.

"Karmi!" The girl blinked in shock, "truth or dare?"  
"Me?" Karmi gestured to herself.  
"Yeah," Honey Lemon nodded, "do you not want to go yet or-?"  
"No, no I'm good," she shook her head, "just didn't expect to get picked..I'm gonna go with... truth."  
"Alright, so Karmi," Honey Lemon had a strange glint in her eyes, "how do you feel about Hiro?"  
The latter yelped in question, and Karmi felt slightly flustered by the question. She just..didn't know how to respond.  
"Just hand me the beverly Sara.." She gave up.

"Boooo," Katie jeered, "you guys are chickens!"  
"Katie!" Rachel huffed, glaring at the feline as Karmi downed the bitter soda, "not everyone is comfortable with truths, or a dare."  
"I'd answer any truth and do any dare," the cat boasted.  
"Challenge accepted," Ari muttered under her breath, she turned to Karmi, who was attempting to get the bitter taste out of her mouth, and they smirked.  
"Since you want to go next, Katie, truth or dare?" Karmi questioned.  
"Dare!" The blue grinned.  
"I dare you to tell me _everything_ you like about Slow-Clap-Cat in a minute," as soon as Karmi said those words, Katie's blue eyes widened.  
"Wh-bu-huh?" Her fur ruffled with shock.  
"Start now," the girl smirked.  
"Oh you guys are good," Fred commented.  
Katie's whiskers twitched, and she began to speak, "W-well Mochi has a nice pelt, that's for starters..and he's got nice eyes..and of course he has all the gossip..which is good, also he's nice. And did I mention his pelt? Well then there's-" the feline had enough, her fur was turning a bright shade of pink from embarrassment, "okay I give! Uncle! Uncle!"

Both Ari and Karmi howled with laughter, "I thought you said you could do any dare?" The former questioned.  
The feline twiched, "there are exceptions.."  
Ari snickered, "Sara maybe you shouldn't pour the chicken beverly, who knows how cats would react to soda."  
"You have a point," she shrugged.  
"Hey Sara, truth or dare?" The feline turned to the blonde.  
"Da-no truth!"  
"Okay er, how old are you?" Katie squinted, "you look kind of eighteen."  
"I'm twenty!" Sara exclaimed, "David's nineteen and Mika's old enough to drink, lucky gal.." she crossed her arms, "I'm gonna catch up around Christmas, just in time for the holidays!"  
"Mentally however, the jury's still out," Gogo commented.  
"Hey!" She huffed, "Hiro, truth or dare?"  
"Dare!" He declared.  
"Okay," Sara then turned to Karmi, "I dare you to give Karmi a hug."

"Oooooh," Ari clapped. Both teens turned red at the thought, considering the "incident-they-shall-not-name."  
"Why Sara, why?" Hiro groaned.  
"If you want, I can give you the beverly, chicken."  
"I am not a chicken!" He walked over to where Karmi was sitting, "you need to come up with better dares though," and he pulled her into a hug. The warmth of it felt very foreign, yet comforting? She turned into a blushing mess when he pulled away.  
"You are so dead by next round Genius Boy," she threatened, covering her flustered face with both of her hands.  
"Is that a blush I see?" Ari teased.  
"It's embarrassment from the torment Sara just inflicted!"  
"It's a blush! I ship it!" The girl giggled.  
"No!" Both teens exclaimed.  
"Uhhg when is that pizza coming?" Hiro buried his face into a pillow, he was going to die of embarrassment before he starved at this rate. Just as he was about to ask Rachel truth or dare, the doorbell rang. "Finally!" He exclaimed.

* * *

The pizza had arrived, with everyone's toppings ranging from plain, to pineapple, mushrooms, broccoli, and...marshmallows? Hiro questioned Rachel's taste in pizza toppings, but he'd probably do the same with gummy bears. Everyone also had their drinks of water, and sodas that might've been won through jinxes, there went five bucks from him. Nobody wanted to touch Sara's cursed beverly drink, considering she downed the whole thing in one gulp and seemed desentized to the bitter taste. As he ate his pineapple with onion ring sides, he glanced over to Karmi a few times, who luckily didn't notice his staring.

 _I guess she's not too bad..sometimes,_ he thought, true she was an annoying show-off at school sometimes, but was a decent person. Considering Ari was friends with her, and she was a great judge of character!... Most of the time.

Once everyone had eaten their fair share and boxed their leftovers, they all squeezed onto the couch with little room for a mouse to wiggle in. Hiro was next to his sister, and Karmi… Fate really liked having them close tonight, didn't it?  
"Now is the fun tradition of many great sleepovers," Fred declared, "the movie!"  
"Or the worst part," Wasabi pointed out, "picking a movie is a hassle."  
"I vote for the _Mermaiden's Tale,_ " Katie raised a paw.  
"No, that makes me cry," Ari shook her head.  
"Birthday girl has passed her judgement Katie cat," Rachel turned to the feline, who scoffed.  
"And nothing to gore-related," Gogo crossed her arms, "I don't wanna wake up because we gave the kiddos nightmares."  
"I don't get scared!" Hiro huffed.  
"Yeah, sure."

"Oooh can we put on _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_?" Ari asked, "I love that one."  
"Which one?" Fred raised an eyebrow, "the Gene Wilder or the Johnny Depp one?"

Sara shuddered, "the Johnny Depp one gives me the heebie-jeebies."  
"It's not that creepy," Wasabi argued.  
"The freaking flashback scenes man."  
"Fair point.."  
"I kind of like the Gene Wilder better," Honey Lemon added, "it's classic."  
"All who favor the original version, raise your hand." Seven pairs of hands shot up, "okay, Gene Wilder version it is," and Fred turned on the TV.

As each of the golden ticket winners were shown on tv, Sara couldn't help but comment about "how does nobody notice the guy with the ugly scar whispering creepy things? I mean look at that scar, hideous."  
"Hey!" Rachel frowned, pointing to the scar on her forehead and arm, "not all scars are ugly, I kind of like my scars, they're cool."  
"Where did you get them from?" Hiro questioned.  
"Tree incident, glass incident, and uh..survived a snake," Rachel chuckled, "don't ask about the snake."  
"Okay?"  
"Guys shhh!" Karmi shushed them, "there's a song coming up."  
As "Cheer up Charlie," started playing, Ari sniffled a little. "Ari, you okay?" Wasabi turned to her.  
"Nothing, just poked my eye.." She wiped away a tear, "what is with movies and making me cry.."  
"You should've seen the theaters after the last blockbuster came out," Gogo commented, "so many tissues."  
"Including her," Honey Lemon mentioned.  
"You have no proof."  
"You cried on my jacket, it still needs to be washed."  
"Fine… I admit it."

"Welp, he's a goner," Hiro commented as the first kid of the group got eliminated.  
"Oh my god, dude they're not dead." Ari crossed her arms, "they showed up after the tour in the Johnny Depp version and the book."

"But what about this version?"  
"You have a point," he kept quiet as the next song number began playing, "moral of the story, don't fall in chocolate rivers."  
"What kind of moral is that?!" Sara exclaimed.

"I fell in one once," Rachel confessed, "in Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge, I tripped on a candy cane and.." she motioned her hand dipping into a river, "tasted great, had to take a long shower."  
"Isn't that the show run by the crazy baby man who kidnapped Katie and Mochi once?" Karmi questioned.  
"Yep," Rachel growled, "thankfully Ms. Gogo here rescued my Katie cat, and we haven't seen Sparkles since, but he's a dead man if he touches Katie ever again."  
Katie in question said nothing, her eyes still focused on the screen.

Which quickly turned into horror as the scene switched to the freaky tunnel one.

Hiro just buried his head into a pillow and tried to ignore the agonized screams from the movie.

"I feel like this is an ironic moral," Wasabi pointed out as the last kid got eliminated, "don't watch TV and yet we're watching TV."  
"I think they mean don't watch _too_ much TV," Fred argued, "like that kid."

Honey Lemon nodded, "yeah, too much time staring at screens is bad for your health."  
"Baymax would probably say something like that in a sciency fancy way," Ari added, "if he was here."  
"Why didn't you guys bring Baymax?" Karmi questioned.  
"Aunt Cass needs someone to look out for Mochi when she's out for errands," Hiro answered, his eyes still focused on the screen.

As the credits rolled, Sara yawned.  
"Uh oh, looks like we got a yawner!" Fred pointed to her.  
"I always yawn after a movie."  
"What do we wanna watch next?" Rachel questioned, "another movie?"  
"How about we watch a few episodes of a show," Katie mewed, "those are always fun."  
"Which one?" Fred began scrolling through netflix, "there's a bunch on here."  
Sara grinned, "how about we watch Game-"  
"No!" Several people chorused.  
"That's banned, that show is banned," Gogo narrowed her eyes.

Honey Lemon hummed in agreement, "yeah, there are children here."

"I was kidding guys! Jeez."  
"What about one of the cooking shows?" Wasabi suggested.

Ari shook her head, looking squeamish at the thought, "too many sharp objects, and knives."

Karmi nodded, she extended an arm to give Ari a comforting pat on the shoulder.  
"Can we put on The Dragon Prince?" the birthday girl suggested, "I like that show."  
"But the animation…" Katie whined, "it's bad."  
"Katie!" Rachel cried in offense.

"I've never seen that show," Karmi confessed, "is it good?"  
"Oh you'll love it," Ari's eyes lit up with glee, "it's in this fantasy world and it's about these three kids try-Fred just put on the show!"  
"Got it," he clicked the remote.

* * *

_Elsewhere in another location…_

Mikan groaned, she dragged the heavy crate into the warehouse. "One batch of robot parts coming up," she collapsed to the ground.

A pair of red eyes walked up to her, " _thank you for the delivery Mika!_ " NBB giggled, bouncing up to her, " _Would you like a sticker?_ "  
"I want a nap.." she groaned, "I've been moving crates all night..How heavy are Krei-Tech parts?"  
" _Golly, I do not know._ " NBB tilted his head, he held up a sticker and placed it on her chest, " _you look swell Mika!_ "  
"Thanks.."  
"Noodle, leave our big sister alone," a pair of cold-blue eyes glanced from the darkness, "she's done some good work, we need these parts for repairs, and other things.."  
"Like what?" Mikan sarcastically questioned, "starting our own blog about how trashy Krei-Tech products are?"  
"Always with the sarcasm, aren't you?"  
"Hey it's my job!"

* * *

After watching the first few episodes, everyone was beginning to yawn. "I think it's time to do the sleeping part of a sleepover," Honey Lemon had said. The rest of them nodded in agreement and brought out sleeping bags, air mats, or even used the couch after wiping away the popcorn stuck to it. Fred turned the lights off and soon almost everyone was off to dreamland.

The key being "almost", Hiro had a hard time keeping his eyes closed. He tossed and he turned in his sleeping bag, sweat dripped down his face and he groaned. He got up, and looked around, his eyes met Ari, she was sleeping peacefully. _She deserves a good dream tonight,_ Hiro thought, she had been through so much over the past few days. He decided to get a drink of water to help him sleep, he carefully tiptoed over everyone's sleeping bags.

It wasn't too hard for him to navigate Fred's house in the dark, some of the lights were on luckily enough. So he got to the kitchen, got a quick drink, and was on his way back to Fred's room. A figure bumped into him, he yelped, the figure yelped too in a high-pitched voice. _Wait..._ he recognized that voice, and those reddish-brown eyes in the dark.  
"Karmi?" He narrowed his eyes, "what are you doing here?"  
"What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded.  
"Um, getting a drink?" He huffed.

"So you couldn't sleep?" Karmi asked, he nodded, "me neither..." she sat down, leaning against the wall, "it's so weird.."  
"Weird?" He sat down next to her, and noticed her gloomy mood, "aren't you having fun?"

"Well, I am but I'm not used to this," she sighed, "people wanting to befriend me, and being involved with the group, heck even you were tolerable tonight!"  
Hiro ignored that last comment, "Well I know you feel, it took me a while to get used to the other's friendliness, the older kids at high school… weren't so nice."  
"Yeah, so cruel," her gaze darkened, "I have an easier time getting along with younger kids, they just are more kinder, and having two younger siblings made me feel less alone. But I kept to myself when I got here. Then you showed up and burst my bubble. Now the Fern kids are bothering me again and just-" she paused.  
"Yeah yeah I ruined your life," Hiro sarcastically muttered.

"Not that much," she smirked, "you brought Ari into my life, and she's just a ray of sunshine, and even helps me with my writing process at times!"  
"I wish she convinced you not to name a superhero 'Captain Cutie,'" Hiro gestured with air quotes.  
"You wish you were cool as Captain Cutie."  
He rolled his eyes, "sure."

"I guess you can be tolerable sometimes," Karmi told him, "at least when your sister is around."  
"Yeah, she's just got this calming aura and makes you less annoying," he chuckled, "considering she's friends with you, you're not that bad, I guess."  
"You're not that bad either." Karmi looked away, "um, your friends, they seemed to like my company."  
"They're nice people," Hiro replied, "and they can be your friends too, just like how Ari's friends with both of us."  
"Technically she's your sister, that doesn't count," she pointed out.  
"Fair point," he chuckled, "do you feel better?"  
"A bit," Karmi gazed away, "hey um… back during Truth or Dare, you didn't have to hug me, how come you did?"  
"Because I didn't want to take that bitter monstrosity Sara brought?" He was puzzled by her question, "seriously how could you drink it?!"  
"Yeah, it was gross," she shuddered at the memory of it's taste.

"How come you didn't say 'I was the worst' and moved on?" Hiro asked her, it was something that bugged him after he got his dare, but the thought was coming back.

"Well, I don't know how I feel about you," she explained, "you can be the worst, but sometimes you're not." Karmi shook her head, "you Genius Boy, are an enigma sometimes."

He smirked, then yawned, "you're tiring me out Karmi."

"Hey!" She playfully punched him on the shoulder, "your fault for sneaking out of the room." They both chuckled, despite their differences, guess they could get along..for a night. They both headed back to their sleeping spots, before closing his eyes, Hiro glanced over to Karmi's sleeping bag. She fell asleep in an instant, her eyes closed and her bangs covering them, she looked rather peaceful and kind of cute in a weird way. _I guess Karmi's a more tolerable person when she's half-asleep_ , Hiro yawned.

Sleep came to him in an instant, and the tugging of dreamland pulled him into a warm slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cute little sleepover with everyone! How fun!
> 
> Well... almost everyone, Sienna is fine n.n'
> 
> But wanted to write this lil' chapter since Ari's now 14, and officially part of the them. Admit it, you felt the waterworks during that scene XD
> 
> It was nice writing fun character interactions, sprinkling some hcs n' stuff, and Karmi and Hiro bonding : D
> 
> They have a mutual friend Ari so it's making them get along sooner than in canon, fun!
> 
> Next chapter... *exhale* if you listen closely you can hear the internal screaming I did during certain parts.
> 
> But that's for another week!


	46. Chapter 45: (Big Problem) Liv Amara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karmi mets her idol Liv, meanwhile there's a monster attack.

"Happy late birthday Ari, I hope you got my letter."  
"Oh don't worry June, I did." It was the first visit Ari made to High Voltage since their second arrest, she had already got birthday wishes from Barb, and was now talking to Juniper. "It was really sweet of you, thanks."  
"You're welcome, I wish I could get you something else though." Juniper chuckled. "A letter probably makes me a lousy friend."  
Ari shook her head. "No, no it doesn't." A light blush grew on her cheeks but she shook it off, _C'mon Ari, she doesn't even think of you like that._ Even though she got "friend-zoned" as Fred put it, she still continued to pine for the crime-dancer, though it was milder than before.

"So how's it being fourteen?" she questioned.  
"It's fun." Ari smiled. "I'm at least the same age as my brother, until he turns fifteen, but at least I'm not called a little kid!" She tilted her head. "How was it when you were fourteen?"  
Juniper paused. "Oh jeez, I barely think about that." Her gazed darkened. "It wasn't a fun part of my life, it was when some stuff got bad."  
Ari's eyes widened. "Does it have to do with..." she gestured with her hands, "so-and-so?"

"I'm not answering that." She growled, and Ari realized she might've crossed a line.

"Sorry Juniper." The brunette bowed her head. "I just feel like I don't know much about you. I mostly talk about what's going on in _my_ life, and that's been an emotional rollercoaster as of late."

Juniper hummed. "I didn't know you felt like that, my bad." A smirk grew on her face. "So, you know little more than me other than I'm fabulously attractive?"  
Ari's face turned a shade of red. "Oh, come on. I made a move one time..." Her friend laughs.

"I'm just joking! I'm joking!" She giggled. "Um, let me think off the top of my head. What do you want to know about me besides uncomfortable backstory questions?"  
She shrugged. "Just basic information like hobbies, what you like and dislike. Y'know, basic friendship information."  
"Oh, that's not too hard." Juniper nodded. "My favorite color's pink, rabbits are my favorite animal and I'd want one as a pet. I really don't like anything with scales, it just creeps me out."  
"I don't like eels, they have scales." Ari commented. "Also, I thought you were a cat person?"  
"Cats are cute, I'll admit. But they're not soft and squishy like bunnies." Her friend had this adorable gleam in her eyes. "They're so fluffy and cute!"  
Ari slowly nodded, but then she glanced over at the clock. "Aw man, time's up."  
"Bummer." Juniper frowned. "But I'll send you another letter, take care Ari."  
"See ya." She waved,. "You too."

* * *

As she exited the prison, a pair of brown eyes narrowed at her. She frowned at her brother. "Oh, come on man, it wasn't that bad!"  
"You were in there for half an hour." Hiro curled his lip. "What did you say to High Voltage?"  
"They have names y'know." Ari crossed her arms. "Barb and Juniper, use 'em."  
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, since you told me you confessed and got rejected, I'm worried that girl… she's gonna use your feelings for her own good."  
"Like what? Ask me to break her out of jail?" Ari teased. "She complains about the food and that Mel guy who ruined Aunt Cass's date, remember him?"  
"Yes..." Hiro facepalmed. "Ari. take it seriously! I'm worried."  
"Thanks 'mom,' for your unwanted opinion."  
"Ari!"

"What? You've never been in love." she sneers, "And unless you fall head over heels for Karmi… you don't know what it's like to crush on a girl."  
"First of all, the chances of me falling for Karmi is as likely as if there's a monster invasion." Hiro huffed. "Second, it's that you're in love with a criminal is what worries me!" The tears flowed down his cheek. "I don't want you to get your heart broken."  
Realizing he was just worried, she walked over to hug him. "Hiro, please don't cry." Ari wiped away his tears. "I'll be alright, I just can't deny that I love her, that's all."

He sighed. "At least be careful."  
"Don't worry, I am. I can tell if someone's being malicious." She smiled at him. "See, that wasn't so bad was it? And I don't have to deal with an awkward car ride from Mikan!" She got on the moped's passenger seat.

Hiro handed her a passenger helmet. "Yeah, are you mad she didn't come to your birthday sleepover?" He started driving back home.  
"Not really, she said she had to do a thing for her siblings, and she got me this pretty bracelet that I'll wear at my next party. So it's all good!"  
"If you say so."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: So I go to this pizza place

Rachel Rosemary: I'm listening

TheLittleMermaid: THEY HAVE SQUARE PIZZA

Fredzilla: ?

Hiro Hamada: Omg sis

TheLittleMermaid: SQUARE PIZZA IS THE WORST

Sienna Kline: All pizzas are good tho?

Gogo: Wow. This is sad

Rachel Rosemary: Yikes.

TheLittleMermaid: Don't mock me!

Hiro Hamada: I told you sis, we can get Yaki Taco

Fredzilla: Ooh can I come with, I have some coupons to use!

Hiro Hamada: Sure

Sienna Kline: I'm more of a Noodle Burger person

Gogo: Don't mention that in the chat

Sienna Kline: Why?

Fredzilla: Noodle Burger Boyy! I miss you and your burgers…

TheLittleMermaid: Why did he have to turn evil!

Sienna Kline: Oh

Hiro Hamada: Drama queens -_-

* * *

"Thanks again for having me at your house Fred." Rachel smiled.  
"No problem!" The comic fan had invited her and Katie over for some good old comic book reading, Fred had his robotic sidekick Mini-Max in his lap.  
"Now can you continue reading with the funny voices?" Katie asked with a grin.

"Sure." he cleared his throat. "Give it up, Human Fist! The Ring of Wearing belongs to me!" He spoke in a dramatic voice, flipping the page. "Over my dead phalanges, Doctor Glove!"

" _Is Doctor Glove also just a hand?_ " Mini-Max questioned.  
"Mhmm." Rachel nodded.  
"You see, Fist is the left, Glove is the right." Fred explained to him. "They were brothers until-"  
" _Frederick?_ " Fred's mom spoke from the intercom. " _Are you dressed for dinner? We have a very important guest tonight."_

Rachel and Katie exchanged glances, the former shrugged. "Who is it?" The comic fan asked.  
" _We're having Orso Knox come over!_ " Mrs. Frederickson spoke in a sing-song voice.  
Fred groaned. "Yeah, Mom! Just… pressing my cummerbund!"  
" _Okay sweetie!_ " The intercom turned off.

" _What is a cumberbund?_ " Mini-Max questioned.  
"Literally, no one knows." Fred noticed Rachel's distant gaze. "Rach, you okay?"

"Yeah." she gave a slow nod. "But that's weird, your mom said Orso Knox?"  
"Uh-huh, he's a friend of my mother's, they're both in the same social circle. He comes over for dinner sometimes blah blah blah. He's alright to talk to, I just don't like getting dressed." He explained.  
"Well, that's weird, my mom and dad invited him to dinner because my mom knows him too. But… he never got there." Rachel explained.  
"Yeah, the weirdest thing happened." Katie mewed.  
"What thing?" Fred questioned, then the ground shook and the floor rumbled. "Mini-Max, do you hear that, too?!"  
" _Yes! The sound of mischief!_ " The small robot leapt onto Fred's head.

"Oh jeez, this was when the weird thing happened." Rachel groaned, grabbing a pillow.  
"Wh-"  
_BOOM!_

The wall burst open, the tv cracked and shattered into a million pieces, the lights flickered. A pair of sharp cyan eyes glared at them, drool dribbled from razor fang teeth. A large hulking dark-gray creature, the tufts of hair on it's body swooped up.

Fred shivered as the creature growled at them.

"Yeah.. .that." Rachel had a deadpan look on her face, not phased by the _giant monster_ who broke into the room!  
" _Mini-Maximum justice!_ " Mini-Max leapt at the monster, who caught him in his claws, and tossed the small robot outside. " _Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!_ "  
"I'll get him." Katie sprinted out.

The monster roared at Fred and Rachel, the former tossed his beanbag at it, stuffing and fluff went everywhere. Rachel groaned and ducked under a table. The monster stomped over to the portrait of Boss Awesome on the wall.  
"Wait, no! That's my dad!" Fred pleaded, his voice low enough so Rachel wouldn't hear. The creature grabbed the portrait and chomped it in half. "Or it was..."

He shivered as the monster crawled towards him. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot." He tried reasoning. "I'm Fred, you're a big scary monster. We're not so different here."  
He got an ear-splitting scream as his response. "Nevermind! Different! Very different! I see that now! I was mistaken!"  
The monster looked down at him. "What's past is prologue." It spoke in a gravelly, raspy voice.

Fred shuddered as it leapt away, exiting the same way it entered.

"That's a new one." Rachel mumbled, she walked over to Fred. "You okay? It scared me too a little bit… Dad might've passed out when it showed up for us, so I won't judge you if you do."  
At that moment, Mrs. Frederickson entered, and saw all the damage. "What on earth?"  
"Long story." Rachel held up a hand.

Mrs. Frederickson saw her son was still in his casual clothing. "You're not even dressed." She frowned. One of Fred's figurines that was tied to the ceiling then collapsed to the ground.

"Wait, did the monster speak when it attacked your house?" Fred turned to Rachel. "Why did it attack?"  
Rachel shrugged. "I dunno, maybe it's a criminal my dad put away once and he's out for revenge." She leaned in. "It whispered 'hell is empty' and then ran off, at least our insurance policy can cover for monsters."

Katie returned to the room, the bruised Mini-Max in her mouth, she dropped him by his charger. "Well, that guy made a mess out of your room Frederick."

"You don't say..." Fred rolled his eyes.

* * *

"If you can catch Mr. Knox before he leaves, do tell him dinner is canceled." Mrs. Frederick is speaking on the phone as Heathcliff sweeps up the mess. "Yes, there was a monster attack. I know, I know, mortifying."  
Hiro, Ari, and the others had arrived at Fred's house to investigate.

"Rachel, Katie, you guys alright?" Ari asked the duo, who shrugged.  
"Eh, been there done that with the monster." Katie huffed. "Just broke some stuff, said weird words, and left."  
"Wait, the monster attacked your house?" Hiro walked up to them.  
"Yep." Rachel nodded, "Mom was in the kitchen when it attacked, so she threw the knife she was cutting up tomatoes with at the monster." She snickered as if she was telling a funny joke. "Dad just hid under the table and passed out, Katie tried fighting the monster but she got thrown at Mom. Then it looked at me, said it's creepy line, and jumped away. I lost my appetite, and we had to get a new table."  
"How are you so calm like this?" Ari demanded, "what's your secret?"  
"Yes."  
"Yes to what?!"

Baymax waddled over to Mini-Max in his charger, he scanned the small robot. " _Mini-Max has sustained significant damage._ "

Fred frowned, "little bud, it's gonna be Mini-Maximum okay."  
"So, what'd it look like?" Hiro questioned.  
"Okay. So imagine if you put a whale and a dinosaur and some hair into a blender then pour that into a human-shaped ice tray, and froze and then let it thaw just a little."

Hiro blinked.

Ari blinked.

Katie just meowed.

"Wow, really?" Gogo spoke up.

" _I can provide visual confirmation._ " Mini-Max slurred, bringing up a clip of the monster breaking into the room with his eyes.  
"Wow." Honey Lemon gaped at it.  
"Huh." Gogo raised an eyebrow. "That actually looks like Fred's description."  
"I knew it looked part dinosaur somehow, but I didn't know how to put it into words." Rachel hummed.

"It looks like a shark." Katie meowed. "With the sharp teeth!"  
"That's the only thing it has similar to sharks, Katie."

Hiro picked up the broken portrait of Boss Awesome. "Baymax?" He held it to the robot.  
" _I will swab for DNA traces._ " Baymax held the portrait. He swabbed some of the saliva still on it, and scanned.

"He must've been an old enemy of my dad's." Fred whispered to Gogo. "He said, 'what's past is prologue,' which sure sounds like something a monster out for revenge would say."  
"Uh-huh."  
"And he must've attacked Rachel's house because her dad is a police detective, she said the monster said 'hell is empty,' which also sounds like a revenge thing."  
"Monster? Seriously." Even after seeing the footage, Gogo didn't believe it.

"Globby exists." Rachel pointed out. "And not to mention all the weird stuff I saw in New York."  
Wasabi turned to her. "What on earth happened on your trip?"  
"A lot."

"The monster did eat the Boss Awesome portrait." Hiro pointed out.  
"That or he hates Boss Awesome." Ari hummed. "Maybe the monster is angry at Boss Awesome for something, and Rachel's dad must make a lot of enemies as an officer." She didn't notice the disheartened look Rachel flashed at her, or the softening of her green eyes.  
"Yeah, Dad does." She muttered under her breath. "Too many..."  
Katie whimpered, and gave the girl a few comforting licks.

Baymax beeped. " _The DNA does not match any known species._ " He showed it on his screen.  
"Oh my god." Ari gasped in horror.

"Real life monster." Fred's eyes widened. "Coolest dad ever!"  
"Hey!" Rachel cried in offense, not realizing Fred was talking about _his_ dad.

"Sorry." He sheepishly chuckled.

"Do you want one of us to walk you home?" Honey Lemon offered, the girl shook her head.  
"Nope, Katie is enough protection." She gestured to the feline, who smirked.  
"Alright." Wasabi waved. "Get home safe."  
"See you guys later!" Ari also waved.

Rachel and Katie smiled, and said their goodbyes as they exited the house.

* * *

There wasn't any chatter as Rachel walked down the road, her house was a few blocks away. Katie rested on her shoulder, her tail fluffing up with irritation.

"Ari's words got you, didn't it?" Katie questioned.  
"A little." She sighed. "That comment hit too hard to home." She glanced at the scar on her leg, the only scar from said enemies of her dad. "If she remembered..."  
"Elio warned us that overloading Ari with any information might cause her to snap." Katie reminded her. "Besides, she'll just hate you if you tell her."  
"She's not some supervillain lying in wait, she's our friend, and then she forgot everything, and it's because of stupid… those stupid jerks!" She stomped on the ground, "It hurts that she doesn't know that they're still out there, waiting for the right moment to strike again!"  
"At least we get some peace." Katie tried to comfort her.  
"Who knows, they could be behind the monster attack! This is right up Lancer's alley, he _loves_ messing with DNA!"  
"Don't remind me." The feline growled. "I'm living proof of that."  
Rachel realized she hit a sore spot. "Sorry Katie cat, I guess I'm a little paranoid." They didn't talk about how Katie was another victim of his experiments, and how she was much luckier than many of the other victims. Including Katie's parents and littermates, who she barely remembered due to losing them so young.  
"That's fine. But whatever happens, Big Hero 6 will stop it." She yawned. "Just relax, and we gotta be there for Ari, remember?"  
"You're right Katie, thanks for that."  
"What else can I say except you're welcome!"  
"Katie…"  
"I had to do it."

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Ariel: If I wake up and there are eel monsters, I'm moving

Captain Cutie: That's not gonna happen anytime soon

Flame Jumper: It might

Chop Chop: FRED

Ariel: : ( I don't like eels, they scary

Speed Queen: We know

Speed Queen: We'll get the monster, don't worry

Captain Cutie: Fred's bringing a list of his dad's enemies to school tomorrow so we'll pick apart from them

Flame Jumper: There are so many papers guys, omg

Flame Jumper: pile,jpeg

Chem Girl: 0_0

Chop Chop: Dude how many enemies did your dad make?!

Flame Jumper: He became Boss Awesome during the city's darkest crime days. Y'know, increased criminal activity, gangs, the works.

Chop Chop: I will never complain about a busy night patrol ever again

* * *

"So that happened last night, really wild." Ari was visiting SFIT, she ran into Karmi and was telling her about what happened to Fred's house. "Good news, there weren't any eel monsters on the news this morning."  
Karmi raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's someone who got into an accident like Globby, Big Hero 6 can handle a monster."  
She nodded. "Yeah, I have faith in them." Ari then paused. "What on earth?" Professor Granville walked into the robotics lab door with the biggest smile on her face. She had never seen the dean of the school smile like that, ever.  
"Maybe it's a special occasion." Karmi hummed. "Or she had a really good morning. Don't act so surprised."  
"I hang around Hiro a lot when he gets on her bad side, don't blame me."  
"Of course he does."

"Morning girls." They turn to see Professor Sally Ferns walking up to them. "I see by the look on your faces you've seen Granville's happy face."  
They both nodded. "Well, it's for good reason." There was a smirk on the older woman's face. "A special visitor is coming, and they donated for SFIT's new biotech building."  
"Yes!" Karmi pumped a fist in the air. "Biotech rules!" She then cleared her throat, a little flustered by her outburst. "Who's visiting? A former student?"  
"No, not a former student. Her name's Liv Amara and-"

"LIV AMARA?!" Karmi exclaimed, Ari winced from the loudness of her voice. "Oh my god she's my idol. I love her and she's coming to SFIT?!"  
"Yeah she-" Sally didn't get a chance to finish because Karmi ran off, rambling about how "she had to show Liv her latest invention!" stuff like that. The woman chuckled, sweeping a tuft of blue hair over her eyes. "That's the most excited I've seen Karmi act."  
"Oooh Karmi told me a lot about Liv!" Ari clapped her hands. "Like how she's running her company Sycorax at twenty-three and that she was a biotech teen prodigy like Karmi herself." She leaned in to whisper. "In case you didn't know, Karmi is a huge fan."  
"I noticed." Sally hummed in amusement. "Mikan's a fan of hers as well, she hopes to get an internship there next semester. I knew Liv when her school had an exchange program with ours, so I can put in a good word for my oldest, at least."  
"Why is Liv coming to SFIT?" Ari questioned.  
"She heard about Tadashi's invention Baymax and wishes to meet him." Sally explained.  
"That's good! Hiro must be so excited! I'll make sure to ask him." She clapped her hands. "Once Karmi gets back, I think she's gonna show Liv the fancy nano-thingies she showed me last week." Ari glanced left and right. "Don't tell Karmi I forgot what they do."  
"I won't." Sally gestured, zipping her lips. "By the way, Granville is having a dedication ceremony later this week, on Friday I think, so if you don't get a chance to talk to her, that would be a good time."

Then Karmi came running back, her invention stored in a box. Ari also heard the sound of helicopters whirling outside. _That must be Liv._

"Well, have fun kids." Sally waved. "I'm going to get some work done." The professor walked past the sprinting Karmi, and Ari just followed her into the robotics lab.

* * *

"I saw Liv Amara's helicopter land, and I had to come and meet her! She is my hero! I love her! Is she here?" Karmi rambled without stopping.

The others in the lab, Hiro and the gang, looked with wide eyes. " _You should breathe now,_ " Baymax told her.

"Karmi, she's here to see me." Hiro told her.  
"Then she'll be very pleasantly surprised by me."  
Ari turned to the others. "How was it with… ?" she gestured.  
"No progress." Gogo shook her head.

The teens turned their heads as the robotics door opened again, and Granville walked in with another woman.  
"Students, meet Ms. Amara!" The woman was _beautiful_ in Ari's eyes, she was tall, her hair was blonde, turning slightly lighter at the tips, she had hazel eyes that felt so mysterious. Liv was wearing a lovely red dress with a black belt. _Wow, she's prettier in person._ Ari fawned.

Liv chuckled, she placed a hand on Granville's shoulder. "Come on Grace, you can call me Liv."  
"Grace?" Honey Lemon and Wasabi exchanged glances.

Granville walked Liv over to Hiro and Baymax. "Liv, this is Hiro Hamada."  
"Which must make this little guy Baymax!" Liv stared into Baymax's eyes.

The robot blinked. " _I am relatively large in stature._ " Liv pressed her face against Baymax's vinyl chest, looking at his skeleton.

"So, tell me about him." She turned to Hiro.

"Marshmallow hugs!" Ari exclaimed, attempting to help her brother out.

"Hyper-spectral cameras, carbon-fiber skeleton." Hiro explained.  
"I can see that! I mean, what led you to create him?" Ari frowned, noticing Hiro stutter on his words.

"Oh I-I didn't actually, my brother did." He confessed.

Liv's eyes slightly widened. "Oh." She commented awkwardly. "Well, great to meet you." and walked away.

Hiro got a little offended, Ari was just confused. _I guess she didn't want to reopen the wound for Hiro, in a blunt way._ "B-b-but the upgrades, are all me!" He ran after her, "and I've invented-"

"Excuse me, Ms. Amara?" Karmi held out a hand to Liv, "I'm Karmi." She opened her box. "let me introduce to you the extradermal nano-receptor." Karmi plucked one out of the box and showed it to Liv. "Tiny, painless, no needles."  
"An iontophoretic delivery system?" Liv gasped. "And it works?"

"Yep! I've run three rounds of trials. The last trial was really promising."

Liv picked up the sticker, inspecting it. "Karmi, this is incredible."

"Wow, good for you." Ari nudged the girl, who had stars gleaming in her eyes.  
"Hey, how would you like to come with us to see the new biotech building." Liv offered,  
Hiro gasped.

"Is artemisinic acid the world's most effective antimalarial compound?" Both of them laughed, and Liv handed Hiro the nano-receptor as her and Karmi walked off.

Ari flashed him a sympathetic look, "I-" she then was dragged by Karmi.  
"Oh Liv, is it alright if my friend Ari comes too?" She asked the woman, Ari felt her cheeks redden as Liv stared at her with her mysterious eyes.  
"I-I hi, I like your hair." Ari waved.  
"Thank you." Liv twirled a lock. "You're another biotech prodigy?"  
"Ari doesn't go to this school." Karmi explained. "But I tell her some of my work! And she's great company!"

Ari spoke up before Liv could make a response. "No I'm good Karmi, you spend time with Liv. Maybe you could learn how to cure cancer or something. I'd just get lost in the science-y talk since I'm not that smart."  
Karmi frowned. "Okay, if you're sure. But don't say you're not smart, because you are."

"Perhaps you can meet us for lunch." Liv told her, Ari grinned.  
"I can do lunch, yep." She waved goodbye as Karmi and Liv exited the labs.

* * *

Hiro stared at the nano-receptor with anger. "Professor Granville, you said she was here to see me!" He complained.

"She was, Mr. Hamada, but Karmi wowed her."  
"Karmi basically invented a sticker."  
"Green isn't a good color on you Mr. Hamada." Granville told him, she then exited the labs.

" _Hiro is not wearing green._ " Baymax pointed out.

"She means he's jealous of Karmi." Gogo explained.

"Oh wow." Ari chuckled. "There's something you don't see every day."

"I-I'm not jealous!" Hiro crossed his arms, they turned their heads as Fred activated the nano-receptor he took from Hiro, stiffened, and fell to the ground.  
"You okay dude?" Wasabi asked him.

"I feel so numb." Fred mumbled, Ari rolled her eyes and took the nano-receptor off.  
"C'mon man." she sighed, even she knew not to play with biotechnology like that.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: There's been monster attacks

Mikan Ferns: "Monster attack where?" -David

Rachel Rosemary: Mine and Fred's house, good thing we have insurance

Wasabi: Does nothing scare you?

Rachel Rosemary: Sparkles does, he will pay if he ever threatens my cat ever again. = )

TheLittleMermaid: Woah there

Hiro Hamada: Same. He tried hurting Mochi and that's a no-no

Mikan Ferns: Anyone who hurts cats has no soul. No soul!

Wasabi: ^

Honey Lemon: Was the attack scary?

Rachel Rosemary: Meh. Scared Dad though.

TheLittleMermaid: He must not see much scary stuff during his job

Rachel Rosemary: Monsters scare him, especially the human looking ones

Mikan Ferns: Ohhhh

Hiro Hamada: I hate those kinds of people! That gives you trust issues

Rachel Rosemary: You think?

TheLittleMermaid: Who hurt you D :  
Rachel Rosemary: I was being sarcastic

Mikan Ferns: Add a little /s at the end there

Rachel Rosemary: Thanks for the help /s

Hiro Hamada: OOooooooh

Wasabi: I think you just got burned

Mikan Ferns: 8V

* * *

At Krei-Tech, the CEO is typing away at his computer. "Interesting, yes! Yes! Yes!" Instead of working, Krei was looking at pictures of himself to put on the latest advertisement.

Distant screaming brought his attention, he frowned. " Excuse me, what is going on out there?"  
_CRASH!_

Krei yelped and hid under the desk as a large monster entered the room. "Uh, do we have an appointment?"

The monster started running at him, but was halted by lasers.

"Ha, ha!" Krei exclaimed as two drones became visible. "Buddy Guards!" They continued to fire until the monster ate one, and threw the other out of the window.

" _Yes Mr. Krei?_ " He grabbed the phone as the secretary downstairs answered.  
"Uh, call Big Hero 6. Now!" The monster then threw away the desk he was hiding under.  
"This thing of darkness, I acknowledge MINE!" The monster roared, Krei screamed.  
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

* * *

_Later… when the superheroes showed up._

Krei was wrapped in a blanket retelling the story to Big Hero 6. "This creature just burst in here, said something weird and left!" Judy walks over with a cup of tea. "I was barely able to fight it off-ooh this tea is hot!"  
"Oh, he hid behind a file cabinet until it left." Judy explained, Krei grumbled at her. "Bravely." She added, he continued to sip his tea.

Gogo popped her gum, and Honey Lemon wrote something down on a clipboard. "What did it look like?" The former asked.

"It was like if you put a whale and a dinosaur and some hair into a blender then pour that into a human-shaped ice tray, and froze and then let it thaw just a little."  
"Told ya! That's the monster!" Fred exclaimed.

"What weird thing did he say?" Gogo questioned.

"This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine, I don't know, something like that. There were a lot of grunts in there!"  
"Wait." they turned to see Detective Elio Rosemary entering the office, he had been investigating the damage downstairs. "You said the monster said that?"  
"Mhmm."  
"Interesting." Elio wrote something down in a notebook. "It's almost as if the monster is warning us of something."  
"Meh." Gogo shrugged.

"Well, it's just a theory, but one I plan to solve." He declared. "Unless you superheroes figure it out first, makes my job a little easier." Elio sniffed the air. "Did any of you have garlic bread for lunch?"

Gogo and Honey Lemon sniffed, they turned to Fred. "Oh, I'm a monster hunter now," he gestured to the garlic on his hood. "So, I came prepared!"

"Flame Jumper, you know garlic is for vampires, right?" Honey Lemon pointed out.

"Yes." He took one of the garlic cloves and ate it from inside his suit, there was a gagging sound. "This is just a snack."  
Elio shook his head. "Don't ever mention vampires to my daughter's cat, she hates those things."  
Gogo turned to Krei. "Go back a sec. What were you doing when this freak attacked?"  
"Nothing!" Krei looked away. "I was finally supposed to be meeting with an investor, Orso Knox."  
"Orso Knox?" Honey Lemon questioned.

"One of the richest men in San Fransokyo." Judy explained, handing Honey Lemon a cup of tea. "Trust fund baby."  
"Wait, Orso Knox? That's the guy my mom had to cancel on the night the monster attacked." Fred whispered to the group.  
"He never made it to our dinner invite, the monster showed up instead." Elio commented.

"I'd been courting him for years." Krei explained. "And then suddenly Liv Amara shows up and he wants to invest in her impressive new company, and her shiny, shiny hair!"  
"He's a little jealous." Judy told Honey Lemon.

"What?! My hair shines."  
Elio hummed. "I might ask Liv herself about Knox, though she's probably busy since donating to SFIT." He turned to the superheroes. "Did the monster attack anywhere else?"  
"M-The Frederickson household when they invited Knox to dinner." Fred explained, catching himself before he slipped.

"I see, my daughter had been visiting when the monster attacked. I'm really glad she wasn't injured." He frowned. "She means everything to me and Sarah and if anything happened to her like what... it would break me. But I've felt less worried since you guys came." He told the superheroes.  
"Aww thanks." Honey Lemon smiled.  
"We try to make the city a better place." Gogo added. "Were you alright when the monster attacked your house?"  
"Yeah." Elio wrote something down in his notebook. "I'm not surprised Knox would invest in Sycorax, Liv herself is a pleasant person at rich people parties, and he was interested when they chatted at a party about seven months ago."  
"Woah." Fred gasped. "You have a sharp memory."  
"Comes with the job, though I think the corporate world got to Liv afterwards." He narrowed his eyes, recalling how she seemed a little different the next time he interacted with her. Then again, people change and running Sycorax at a young age probably took a toll on her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to continue my investigation downstairs."

The superheroes gave sighs of relief when he left.  
"At least you didn't lift up your hood Fred." Gogo turned to her friend.  
"Hey! I don't do it _that_ much anymore."  
"You do it a lot Fred, it's like you _want_ people to know our identities."  
"No I don't!"  
Honey Lemon sighed. "This monster mystery is gonna be harder than we thought."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cue me and the beta reader internally screaming*
> 
> Ahaha yeah, "Liv" has arrived. (we know what's going on at this point but still, play along XD) Not gonna add more to that. Probably shouldn't have used so many eel jokes but this fic is self-indulgent so I do what I want. They tone down a little after this ep (next chapter is worse on the jokes haha)
> 
> Writing Rachel's "this is fine" reaction made me crack up, she just acts chill to make herself look cool. 
> 
> And had to sprinkle in some lore w/ Liv, since she's 23 she's obvi a teen genius, though she didn't attend SFIT, she was there as a exhange student.
> 
> Having the characters figure out something off is lame, (like why would you ruin the surprise?) so no one is solving the actual mystery this ep. Buuuut there's gonna be some foreshadowing. Not much of a spoiler imo, sorry if that makes you guys upset, but had to be said.


	47. Chapter 46: (Big Problem) Knox and the Gala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Hero 6 investigate more of the monster mystery!  
> Can they have one peaceful event for once?

"Hey, Ari!" She turned to see Karmi waving to her, next to her was Liv Amara with her own lunch. "Come sit with us!"

Ari shrugged. "Alright." She walked over to the table, noticing nearby students were gawking and whispering among themselves about Liv's appearance, she sat next to Karmi.

"I was just telling Liv about you!" Her friend had the biggest smile on her face. "And how your enthusiasm is contagious."  
"Contagious?" Ari gasped. "Oh no, I hope I didn't get you sick or anything."  
Both biotech majors laughed. "No no, she means that your happy attitude rubs off of her." Liv explained. "And I can see that now."  
"Well, did she say anything else?" Ari was curious what her friend was saying to the woman, and nervous. _I hope she hasn't been saying any bad stuff._

"She told me that you're not an SFIT student, but your brother goes to this school, you're very optimistic and you have amnesia." Ari nodded until she heard the last part.  
"Karmi!" She hissed. "You're not supposed to tell people about my memory problems! I trusted you!"  
Karmi bowed her head. "Sorry Ari, but I think Liv could help you, she's got tons of cool things at Sycorax, one of those things might help you remember more."  
She crossed her arms, still annoyed that Karmi told a _total stranger_ one of her biggest secrets, but Karmi was right, Liv could help her in ways others cannot.  
"Sorry." Ari told her. "You're right."  
"It's fine, we're both even!"

She turned around at the sound of someone clearing her throat, Hiro had walked up to the table, with some… thing.

"Hey uh, Ms. Amara." Hiro waved. "I've wanted to show you something I've been working on."  
"Now? I'm kind of eating." Liv raised an eyebrow. "But okay."  
"Oh joy!" Karmi sarcastically exclaimed.

Hiro unveiled the cloth on top of this thing, which was a complicated machine of some sort. "This is a temperature gradient device."

Ari felt bad for him at that moment, but decided to take pity. "And what does it do?" She asked.  
"Glad you asked sister!" He took Karmi's cup of water. "May I?" He then stuck a rod in the water, the machine beeped. "As you can see, it easily converts physical changes in heat to an easy to understand numerical value."  
Ari leaned over to Karmi. "Do you wanna tell him or should I?"

He didn't hear that and continued to speak. "And it has plenty of practical applications for medical and commercial use."  
The girls stared in silence, Liv was the one who spoke up. "So it's a thermometer."  
Hiro then realized his mistake. "Huh?"

"A really big thermometer." Karmi added.  
"But at least you know how to build one!" Ari tried to add something positive, but then faltered. "Please never do that again."  
"It's a temperature gradient-yeah no it's a thermometer." Hiro dragged his invention away dejectly, Ari felt rather bad for her brother.  
"Aww poor Hiro." She frowned. "He must've been upset that you weren't too interested in Baymax." Ari turned to Liv. "But I know you did that to spare his feelings."  
"Pardon?" The woman raised an eyebrow.  
"Y'know, Baymax was his late brother Tadashi's invention, and you probably didn't want to strip the robot of any of Tadashi's 'touches' or take Baymax away if you wanted to invest in him." Ari explained. "That's why you weren't interested when Hiro explained Baymax wasn't his invention."

Her eyes widened, there was something whirring in her head, those hazel eyes stared into her in an almost hypnotic manner. "Impressive detective skills Ms. Rosemary," Liv spoke in a sweet silky voice. "You're more clever than I gave credit for."

Ari beamed. "I pick up some things!"  
"Shame about your memory, perhaps after the gala at SFIT, you'd like to come to Sycorax and see if I can't see what the problem is, and maybe give you a treatment." She offered. "I'd be able to show Karmi my company, and you'd get your amnesia problem solved, two birds with one stone."  
Both girls stared at each other, did Liv just say what they thought she said?  
"Us?" Karmi gasped.  
"Visit Sycorax?"  
"Mhmm." Liv nodded, the two of them starting squealing with excitement and joy, thanking the woman and began theorizing about what cool stuff was awaiting them at Sycorax. Karmi thinking more of the technical side, and Ari taking a page out of science-fiction. Neither of them noticed Liv's gaze upon Ari, something about her explanation shocked her. Perhaps it was better to keep an eye on the girl before she got too curious for her own good, for better or for worse…

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: Guess who's getting a free tour to Sycorax on Saturday? THIS GIRL!

Mikan Ferns: Omg luckyyy!

Mikan Ferns: I have to talk to Liv on why she should hire me for her company and I am nervous!

Sara Ferns: You feel fear?

Mikan Ferns: Less of anxiety and more on what am I going to say to this person two years older than me yet she runs her own business.

Hiro Hamada: Woo, when's your parade?

TheLittleMermaid: : (

Mikan Ferns: Bruh

Rachel Rosemary: Have fun at Sycorax.

TheLittleMermaid: Have you been there?

Rachel Rosemary: Katie visited

Sara Ferns: owo what's this?

Gogo: Never make that face again

Rachel Rosemary: For five minutes. She doesn't like biotech.

Mikan Ferns: Wow, your cat is weird

Gogo: Hypocrite

Mikan Ferns: : (

* * *

The snow-haired girl was sitting in her lab, reciting in her head what she was supposed to say to Liv at the gala. _Do I just say, "I'm a huge fan and I want to work at your company?" No, too brash._

"Mikan?" She saw Sally enter her lab.  
"Oh, what's up?" Mikan raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss a homework assignment or something and you're here to remind me?"  
The professor shook her head. "No, I wanted to see how you were doing. You must be nervous about the upcoming gala, and not sure on how to speak to Liv."  
"Meh." Mikan shrugged. "Just gotta find a way to not sound like a crazed fangirl stalker."  
Sally chuckled. "Happens more often than you'd think." She took a seat next to her. "Y'know, I thought I'd tell you perhaps you should pop some of the 'Mikan attitude' when working with your future coworkers?"  
"Future?" She frowned.  
"Come on, everyone and their teen genius brothers can tell that a certain biotech prodigy here might be interning at Sycorax next semester." Sally explained. "So, you might wanna be nicer when talking to Karmi."  
"Nicer?"  
Sally huffed. "Calling someone a germ isn't very appealing Mikan."  
"It's a nickname!" Mikan crossed her arms, very frustrated on why her caretaker was being so sensitive about it. _It's not like I'm calling her a disease that I hope gets destroyed anytime soon_.

"Mikan, don't you notice how Karmi feels?" She defended. "She gets extremely uncomfortable when you call her that and try to noogie her."  
"I noogie David and Sara all the time."  
"That's because they're comfortable with you invading their space." Sally explained. "Karmi isn't."  
"So what? I'm just trying to be a buddy to her." She shrugged. "not my fault she has no friends-"  
" _Mikan Ferns!_ " She flinched at Sally's increased volume. "That is a very inappropriate thing to say! Not everyone can be a social butterfly, or have an easy time making friends. Friendship takes time." the professor explained. "Karmi might allow you into her bubble if you just learn to respect her space, and treat her kinder."  
Mikan opened her mouth to argue but decided against it. _Guess I must be doing something wrong if everyone yells at me everytime I talk to Karmi._ "Fine, I'll try."  
Sally's amber gaze softened. "That's all I ask of you." She walked over to Mikan, pressing a kiss to her check. "I love you sweetheart."  
"I… love you too." Mikan replied. She felt strange as Sally exited the lab. "Love, such a silly emotion."

* * *

Ari peeked into the garage, Hiro had been in there for awhile and she was getting worried.  
"If you're going to say I was being jealous, I've already heard enough from Honey Lemon." He didn't turn to her.  
"I wasn't going to ask about that." she defended. "Just, do you think Orso Knox is connected to the monster?"  
"Probably." He shrugged. "That's why we're going to see him this afternoon."  
"Please don't start the convo with 'are you behind the monster attacks?'" Ari suggested. "That's gonna end horribly."  
Hiro chuckled. "Glad you haven't lost your sense of humor."  
"Eh, it's what keeps me going." Ari handed him a bag of gummy bears. "You have been rather green today, so here."  
He narrowed his eyes, but accepted the gummy bears. "I'm going to enjoy this bag, but I'm gonna be highly offended."

"Ha ha, very funny." She rolled his eyes. "Have you considered asking Detective Rosemary on his input?"  
"Well according to the others, all he mentioned was the monster attack on his house, and that Knox was interested in investing in Sycorax."  
"Oooh I'm gonna ask Liv about it next time I see her!" Ari exclaimed. "Which is either the gala or on Saturday, I don't want to rain on Karmi's parade this week."

Hiro groaned. "All she did was invent a stupid sticker, what's the big deal?"  
"You participated in the space junk competition." She pointed out. "Let some others have spotlight man."  
"Karmi is the actual worst though!" Hiro huffed. "most of the time at least..."  
"What was that last part?" She leaned in.

"Nothing!"

* * *

_Knock-knock-knock_

"Mr. Knox?" Hiro knocked on the door, him, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax had showed up in their superhero outfits, just in case. The door creaked open as he knocked.  
"Weird." Fred commented.

"Mr. Knox? The door was open, may we come in?" Honey Lemon questioned as they entered his office room.

It was a mess, the chairs and tables were knocked over. Glass pictures cracked and vases shattered. Carpets torn and stuffing ripped and shredded. As if a cat tornado went to town in this room.

Hiro frowned. "Woah, this office-"  
"Is Wasabi's worst nightmare!" Fred exclaimed, he adjusted a picture on the wall. Hiro stepped on a picture, the glass crunched under his boot, he picked up the picture and squinted.

It was a picture of a balding man with blue eyes. "He's not supposed to be out today." Honey Lemon walked up to him, a copy of Knox's schedule in her hands.

"Office hours." He hummed, then turned to his robot companion. "Uh, Baymax?" He turned around. "Can you find Knox?"  
Baymax beeped. " _Scanning biometric data._ " He began to scan the picture Hiro was holding.

_CRASH!_

The wall burst behind them, and out the dust the monster appeared and roared at them.

"See? I told you!" Fred exclaimed. "He looked like if you put a whale and a dinosaur and some hair into a blender-AAAH!" The monster picked him up and tossed him at the wall. Fred groaned as he fell to the floor.

Honey Lemon popped out a chem ball but before she could throw it the monster charged at the three of them, they all ducked out of the way but it snagged her chem purse. She tossed the ball in her hand at the monster as it went for her, cyan goop trapped it's arms but it broke free! Honey Lemon yelped as it leapt at her, she ducked and it hit the chimney instead.

"I've got this!" Fred bounced back into the action. "Away with thee, monster!" In both hands he held out his clove of garlic and a wooden stake.

The monster roared and chomped his clove.  
"What?" And then Fred was screaming and being tossed out of the window. Hiro winced as the glass shattered from his impact. He then saw the snarling monster peeking at the schedule which was dropped due to all the chaos.

"Knox's schedule!" He exclaimed, the monster turned to him, on instinct he dived for the schedule. He didn't make it very far as the monster grabbed him, Hiro screamed as he dangled in the monster's clutches.

"Hiro!" Honey Lemon gasped.

The monster stared at him with it's blue eyes. "All the devils are here." It rasped. He curled his nose at its rancid breath, which could _kill_ a man.

"Baymax! Overdrive mode!" He turned to Baymax.

" _Overdrive mode: engaged._ " Air hissed as he transformed, his wings became a sword and he gripped it. " _Overdrive mode._ " Energy channeled into his sword as he stomped over to the monster, it dropped Hiro and made it's escape. Running with its tail between its legs.

Baymax shifted back to normal, and out of energy. " _I scared the blender whale!_ "  
"Oh, thanks Baymax." Hiro sighed.

" _No problem, pal._ " He thudded to the ground as Fred got up.

"Uh, so the garlic isn't as effective as one would've hoped." he groaned.  
"You don't say?" Hiro sarcastically questioned.  
"Yeah I thought monsters hated garlic-oh… sarcasm."

* * *

"All the devils are here." Hiro commented. They retreated back to Fred's house, and Ari had joined them in waiting for Baymax to recharge and recover from their monster encounter.  
"Wow, what even?" Ari raised an eyebrow.  
"He's so dramatic!" Fred added. "It's like, dude, start a blog."  
Honey Lemon's phone beeped, she gasped,. "All the devils are here, all the devils are here! _The Tempest!_ "  
"The what?" Hiro frowned.  
"The Shakespeare play." Honey Lemon explained, "hell is empty and all the devils are here, this thing of darkness I acknowledge mine, what's past is prologue. They're quotes from _The Tempest!_ "  
"Why would he say those quotes?" Ari narrowed her eyes. "Is he a cryptic kind of monster?"  
"Detective Rosemary did suspect the monster was trying to communicate something/" Fred added.  
"So the monster's a Shakespeare fan?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"No but Orso Knox was." Honey Lemon shook her head. "I think..."

"The monster is Orso Knox!" Both Baymax and Honey Lemon exclaimed, the robot showing an image of the monster on his screen.

"You know, one of you now owes the other a soda." Fred pointed to them. "Like during the sleepover!"  
"Don't remind me." Hiro grumbled at the memory of buying Karmi a soda due to the laws of jinxing.  
" _I mapped the iris on the photo of Orso Knox._ " Baymax brought up a picture of Knox, and showed the similarities between the blue eyes. " _It matched with the monster._ "  
Ari gasped. "Oh my god, that thing is a person." She gagged. "Gross, so gross! At least it's not anyone I know."  
"But what happened to him?" Honey Lemon frowned. "Some kind of genetic mutation?"  
"Maybe he drank something really bad," Ari guessed. "Or he was watching a lab experiment and wasn't careful, Mikan warned me bad things can happen if you don't follow safety procedures."  
"It's Globby all over again!" Fred dramatically exclaimed. "And I thought one monster in San Fransokyo is bad enough! Least he's not a spider monster."  
"Or an eel monster." Ari gagged at the thought. "Gross."

Hiro stared at the schedule on the tablet. "Wait a minute." he picked it up. "Fred and Rachel's houses, Krei's office." He pointed to the locations.  
"Knox has been keeping his appointments!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.  
"Which means the next place he's going is..." He stared at the bottom one taking place Friday night, and gasped.

"SFIT." he, Honey Lemon, and Ari realized.

"S-F-I-T-" Fred paused. "I mean SFIT."

Ari groaned. "Great, can I just enjoy _one_ event where a villain slash monster doesn't attack?!" She brought a hand to her head. "What's next? A school dance?"  
"At least my second Bro-Tillion was supervillain clean." Fred bragged. Ari just glared at him, and he closed his mouth. "Sorry."

The day before the gala, in his garage, the gang gathered. "Hey guys." Ari waved, bringing in a plate of blueberry muffins.

They all waved and got one. "How's work?"

"Going well." Hiro commented from the computer.  
Wasabi was looking at a book of _The Tempest,_ and was flinching. "this play has three of my top nine fears. Shipwrecks, rainstorms and… puns." he shuddered.  
"Oh yeah, puns are annoying." Ari nodded. _especially from a certain attractive, but irritating at times blonde._

"Lunatic mutant billionaire tops those." Gogo gestured to a tablet comparing Knox's mutant and human forms.  
"Not the first time I've heard of that, long story." Hiro typed on his computer. "But luckily, I know a way to even the playing field." He pressed a button. "And it can be executed now."  
Fred squealed as the 3D printer got to work, whirring to life a piece of a boot.

"Not in some magical, distant future like the ideas of some biotech major we all know, whose name rhymes with 'Zarmi.'" Hiro boasted, his sister just rolled her eyes and tossed a muffin at him. "Hey!"  
"Are you talking about Jarmi?" Fred raised an eyebrow. "'Cause I agree, his ideas are crazy."  
Hiro flashed him a deadpan look.

"I like Jarmi, snappy dresser." Wasabi smirked.  
"There's a Jarmi at your school?!" Ari exclaimed.  
Honey Lemon nodded. "He's a good classmate of Mikan, ask her for more details."

Hiro just groaned.

* * *

_Later in the evening..._

"It is sweet! Whoo!"  
"This ultra amor's a little heavy, and a lot awesome!"  
"I like it."  
"Ooh."  
"Woah you guys look awesome!"  
"Titanium reinforced to withstand more of a beating." Hiro explained, they were all in greyscale, heavy suits, they'd repaint them in more color later.  
Ari flashed them a thumbs up, she wore sunglasses so her eyes were protected from the light reflecting off of the shiny metal.

"Oh, great." Wasabi dreaded the mention of a beating.  
"It's going to be super helpful, Hiro!" Honey Lemon told him.

"Yeah, Ultra Armor, a win." He tapped a checklist on his tablet, Honey Lemon leaned over to look at it.

"Hm, how does Karmi have negative accomplishments?"  
"Because everything she does is the worst." Another muffin got thrown at him. "Knock it off!"  
Ari just narrowed her eyes. "Dude, please chill for like, five seconds."

"Hiro." Wasabi started. "Are you ever jealous of how awesomely organized I am?"  
"Or how helpful I am in the cafe? Or how good am I at writing?" Ari added.  
He frowned. "What? Uh, no, why?"  
"Or how fast I am." Gogo chimed in.  
"Or how positive I am?" Honey Lemon questioned.  
"Or how Fred I am." The comic fan flipped his hood down.  
Hiro shook his head. "No, you guys are who you are."  
"Exactly, and Karmi's a biotech genius, that's who she is." Wasabi explained.  
"She's special in ways that you're not, and you're special in ways that she's not." Honey Lemon told him.

"Yeah!" Ari nodded. "You're smart at robotics stuff, and sassy, and a bit overprotective, but you're also very heroic and caring."  
Hiro flashed her a smile. "Thanks Ari, and thanks guys."  
"No problem." Gogo adjusted a disk. "The world's cool like that."

" _Reminder, it is time to leave for the dedication gala._ " Baymax spoke up.

"We've got a socialite turned Shakespeare monster to catch!" Fred exclaimed. "I'll get the garlic!"  
" _No!_ " the group chorused.

"Heck I better get on my dress!" Ari exclaimed, bolting out of the garage. "And Fred you better not bring that garlic _or so help me-_ "

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Rachel Rosemary: Great news, I will be attending the gala : )

TheLittleMermaid: Yay!

Mikan Ferns: "Ooh you can finally meet my GF then" -David

Rachel Rosemary: Your GF?

Sienna Kline: Me! I can introduce myself in person.

Rachel Rosemary: K

Sara Ferns: Omg I am so excited! Maybe I'll get to speak at Liv at some point! She's so cool!

Hiro Hamada: You're cool Sara

Sara Ferns: Aaaah tysm!

Hiro Hamada: Yw

* * *

The gala had a mixture of students, business folk, and rich people attending. Big Hero 6 was split into two groups. Wasabi, Fred, and Baymax were in their suits staking the outside. While Hiro, Gogo, Honey Lemon, and even Ari assisting covered the inside. The comic fan however complained about missing out on consuming free gala food, and Gogo promised to bring him a crab cake, and Ari excused herself from the group to fulfill that request.

"There we go." She picked up a plate and put a crab cake on it, but then a paw swiped it. "Hey!" She turned to the person next to her. "Oh, hi Rachel!"  
The girl was in the dress she wore at the Bro-Tillion, and had a suspiciously wiggly purse to boot. "Hey." Rachel smiled, she slightly opened the purse to reveal the crab cake thief.

"Katie." Ari groaned. "Why are you in Rachel's purse?"  
"To avoid the press." The feline twitched her whiskers. "And Liv."  
Now she was plain confused. "Liv? Why do you wanna avoid Liv?"

Rachel and Katie exchanged glances. "Katie isn't a fan of biotech majors, remember?" The girl explained. "Including Liv."  
"Awww, but she's so nice." Ari frowned.

"I don't like her." Katie huffed. "The look in her eyes creeps me out."

"Well that's just your opinion." She thought the blue was being rude. _Liv's a good person for donating to the school and helping my friend Karmi with her dreams! Katie's just being prejudiced, not to mention I might get my memories back thanks to her!_

"Hey gang." they turned to see David walking up to them, Sienna was wrapped around his arm, "is this where the party is? I heard your voices."  
"Very funny," Ari snickered. "Come to introduce Sienna to the youngest Rosemary and her famous cat?"  
"Yep."

She waved to the artist. "Are you doing okay Sienna? I heard about the car accident."  
"I'm better now." Sienna waved it off. "David being there helped me recover."  
"Awww."

Sienna shook hands with Rachel, "it is such an honor to meet you Ms. Rosemary."  
"Please, my parents go by their last names, call me Rachel, or Rach, most people call me Rach." She replied.

Katie snickered, swiping another crab cake off the table. Ari's stomach growled with hunger, she got a plate and began stuffing it with egg rolls, rice, and crab cakes. As she reached over to grab some of the fish being served, Rachel stopped her.  
"I wouldn't eat that if I were you." the girl gave a warning. Ari frowned, she took a sample and began chewing it. It tasted wiry, but good.  
"This isn't terrible." She swallowed the piece.  
"Yeah but it's unagi." Sienna told her, Ari's jaw dropped.

"It's what?"  
"Unagi, y'know, e-"  
"Eel!" Ari gagged, taking the rest of her sample and throwing it in the trash. "Ew! Gross!" She took a cup of water and began drowning the taste out of her mouth. Katie started laughing at her reaction, Rachel just glared at the feline who was having the time of her life in her purse. "Who even eats this stuff?!"  
"Liv does." Rachel pointed to the talk of the gala, the woman was having some food and chatting with business folk, on her plate was unagi, for some freakish reason.  
"Bleugh." Ari stuck her tongue out.

"People have tastes." Sienna shrugged. "I dunno what to tell you."

* * *

Hiro, on the other hand, was mostly worried about Orso Knox crashing the event than what was being served. Though it was comical seeing Krei acting jealous over Liv, even if he shared the same advice to him that his friends shared. Though at this point who cared if he got Liv's approval or not, at least he had his sister and their friend's support.  
"Careful!" He accidentally bumped into someone, his arm hitting their shoulder.  
"I'm sor-" Hiro paused. "Wait, Karmi?" He almost didn't recognize her, she was wearing a beautiful blue dress and pumps.  
"What's that look for?" She narrowed her eyes at his staring.  
"Nothing!" Hiro turned away. "You just look good in a dress, I guess."

"Oh." Karmi's cheeks went red, she glanced away. "You don't look so bad either."

"Thanks." Was he having a decent conversation with Karmi for once?

"Are you going to present another giant thermometer to Liv again?" And there it was.  
"Nope." he shook his head. "I'm just here for… because my sister wanted to come, she was excited about the gala." He glanced over to where Liv was, she was wearing a black dress and was talking to guests, Hiro squinted when seeing a familiar head of snowy hair. "Is that Mikan over there?"  
"Hm?" Karmi squinted. "Yeah, she said she was going to try getting a job at Sycorax next semester, and must be handing her resume right now."  
"When did you talk to Mikan?"  
"This morning, she was kind of pleasant. She even apologized for constantly invading my space." She explained. "She's a bit scary and mean, but Mikan's better than most people I've met." Hiro nodded in agreement.  
"Yep, though do you think you can ask her to give _me_ space?" He requested. "You're right, she does invade people's space a lot."  
"I guess, if you get me another soda."  
"Oh for the love of-" He groaned. "I'm just gonna go."

* * *

Hiro tapped the comm. "Status report."  
" _There is no sign of the Orso Knox monster._ " Baymax reported.

" _Maybe he likes being fashionably late?_ " Wasabi questioned.  
"Keep watch." Hiro told them, he took his seat as Granville took the stage she was in a fancy blue dress herself, tapping the microphone.

"If I may have your attention?" The chatter from the guests continued, Granville chuckled."Attention please."

Still, the chatter chatted on.

"Attention!" There was feedback from the microphone as she raised her voice, that got the chatter to stop. "Thank you, thank you, there are few innovators who have made their mark as quickly and completely as Liv Amara."  
He heard Krei cough behind him. "Overrated."  
"So it is my honor to introduce the namesake of the new Amara Biotech Center. Ms. Liv Amara!" The crowd applauded as Liv came onstage and took her place on the podium.

"Thank you, Grace." She smiled. "You know, the other day I was lucky enough to meet a current biotech student. Karmi reminded me why I wanted to help build this facility."  
He saw Karmi gasp with delightment. _Good for her I guess._ Bits of jealousy still wormed him, but their prior conversation eased his mood. He walked over to Honey Lemon and Gogo's table, and that's when he heard three "Oh no's" through the comm.  
"Oh no what?" He whispered, they all nodded and ran outside, where Wasabi, Fred, and Baymax were in battle mode.

"Nothing much." The former replied. "Just Orso Knox!"

* * *

The monster was here, bushes and street lights had been knocked over in his way, the Skymaxes arrived with the rest of their gear.

"Hold him off!" Hiro ordered as his Skymax landed beside him. Baymax fired a rocket fist at Knox, who dodged and kept charging, and leapt at Wasabi. He flinched, shielding himself with his plasma blades, which caused Knox to screech and get knocked back by the force.

Wasabi was surprised by this outcome. "Hey, it worked! Hiro, this armor is-" He was tackled by Knox. "Woah!" The fall didn't hurt as much, but he whimpered as the monster got closer.

"This one's for Mini-Max!" Fred declared as he hopped on Knox's back, who roared in offense.

Gogo and Honey Lemon had finished armoring up. "Let's clear out the tent!" The former declared, they went inside.  
"And a new generation is ready to lead our industry into the future." Liv was still speaking when they went in.  
"Excuse me?" Honey Lemon tried getting their attention. "Excuse me, everyone."  
Gogo lowered her visor and whistled sharply. "Hey!" She raised her visor back up as Liv stopped speaking and the crowd turned to her. "Back exits, everyone! Now!"  
"Please!" Honey Lemon added.

The loud monster roaring got the message clear, objects clattered as the gala attendees exited like rabbits during rabbit season.

"What's going on?" Liv questioned as she stepped down from the podium.

Gogo skated to her. "Long story, big fan."  
"Is Captain Cutie here?" Karmi grabbed her shoulders. "Is Captain Cutie here?!"  
"Now is not the time Karmi!" Ari exclaimed as she helped David pick up Sienna who had tripped, and bolted out of the tent.

Outside, Wasabi got knocked by Knox again. The monster roared as Fred leapt on him again. Then Hiro and Baymax tackled him, the robot pushing against his strength.  
"Chem Girl? All clear?" Hiro asked through the comms.  
" _All clear!_ "  
Baymax let go, Knox went flying, then flew over to their teammate lying on the ground. "Wasabi, get up."  
"Where are we going?" He questioned.  
"I have an idea."

Knox roared and entered the tent, ripping appart tables as he stomped towards Gogo and Honey Lemon.

"Inside that monster there's a person. Mr. Knox, we wanna help you." Honey Lemon told him.

She got more growling, tables tossed, and the Liv Amara ice sculpture shattered as her response.

"Yeah. Mostly monster." Gogo commented, as they stepped back as he roared. Baymax and Hiro entered the tent, with Wasabi clinging onto one of the robot's arms.  
"Blade!" Hiro commanded, and he began cutting the top of the tent with his plasma blades. Honey Lemon tossed a chem ball at Knox and froze him in place. His arms broke free and Gogo threw a disk at him, he roared.

The tent was fully cut as the top began falling down, Baymax and the team exited. Knox emerged from the cloth and let out a pained roar. Partygoers gasped and screamed at the sight of the monster, Rachel and David had more deadpan reactions, unfazed by the roaring.

Fred hogtied Knox and handed the loose end of the rope to Hiro, he spun around Knox as Honey Lemon continued to ice and goop him in. Once there was no more rope, Baymax landed, the heroes satisfied with their work.

* * *

"No worries everyone." Hiro told the crowd. "We've got this situation under-" the goop crackled as Knox broke free!

People screamed and ran, everyone except a few bystanders, Karmi one of them. Knox roared, eyeing his next target, his gaze fell under a small group, Liv among the bystanders.

"Out of this house!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed, she started running towards the monster, and began hitting him with her purse. There was a screeching meow from that.  
"Get out of there!" Ari called to her. "it's not safe!"  
"Oh please, this monster is scary as pack of miiiice!" Rachel yelped as Knox grabbed her, she flinched as he roared his rotten breath.  
"Hell is empty." He rasped. "And all the devils are HERE!" Knox tossed Rachel, she ended up crashing into Ari. Both girls groaned and moaned from the impact. The monster turned to his next target, Liv Amara herself. She stared in horror as he stomped toward her and roared. He screeched, baring his sharp teeth as she gasped.

Then there was a high-pitched noise, Knox's eyes widened and he fell to the ground, behind him was Karmi, with a purple sticker in her hand.

She placed a few more on his back. "Extradermal nano-receptor! I administered a sedative." Karmi smirked.

Knox growled, and she started placing stickers more rapidly on his back. She laughed nervously as Hiro walked up to her. "Thought maybe you could use the help." He could see the blush growing on her cheeks, perhaps from standing next to her "Captain Cutie."

"Uh… thanks!" He gave her a thumbs up, then turned to Ari and Rachel, the latter was all roughed up from being thrown. "Are you alright?"  
"Meh, I can't believe I got 'yeeted' by a monster," Rachel shrugged.  
"Oh my god, I can't even," Ari groaned.

* * *

Liv brushed the unconscious Knox with her hand. "See? This is exactly the kind of thinking that's getting your project funded."  
"Funded?" Hiro sputtered. "I mean uh, ahem… good for you." He chuckled. Karmi flashed him a big smile.

"Props on the armor, Big Hero 6." Liv told the superheroes, inspecting their ultra armor. "Excellent mech work. Not my area of expertise, but I'm impressed."  
"Check out the titanium back spikes, huh?" Fred gestured to the spikes on his back. "Yeah!"

"Please tell me we're repainting them later, right?" Wasabi whispered to Honey Lemon. "I miss being green."  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to add some flavor to when I add the color." She winked back.  
Gogo walked over to Knox. "So, what do we do about Sleeping Ugly here?"  
"Hmm, that's kind of harsh." Honey Lemon frowned.  
"There's a secure genetics lab back at Sycorax, if anyone can help him, my team can." Liv explained.  
"Hold up!" Ari raised a hand. "How did you figure out the monster was Knox?"  
"I spoke to Detective Rosemary." She answered, at the mention of her father, Rachel narrowed her eyes. "He managed to connect the dots and explained the situation to me, so I already have the materials gathered to help Knox."  
"Oh that's so smart!" She beamed. "Though I wonder what he meant when he said that thing, right Rachel?" Ari turned to her companion who was lost in thought.  
"Hm? Oh." she shook her head. "Perhaps it was a cry for help, best not think about it."

" _I will help you transport him to the lab._ " Baymax offered, waddling over to the unconscious monster.

Hiro turned to Karmi, if it weren't for her intervention, someone could've gotten hurt. He did it find it brave of her to help out like that, most people just ran. "You know Karmi, you did a super job out there."  
"I love you too Captain Cutie."

"What?"  
"What."  
Too much for him right now, staring into her soft reddish-brown eyes. "I gotta go!" He clouded his visor and bumped into Baymax, falling to the ground.

Karmi gasped, and the robot glanced down as he picked up Knox. " _Oh._ "

Ari snickered. "Wow Karmi, you broke Captain Cutie."  
"I didn't mean it!" She helped Wasabi lift him back up.

* * *

Rachel opened her purse. "Katie, you alright?" she picked up the blue inside, she was dizzy from the crash.  
"Heads, spinning." Katie slurred. "uhhhg." Liv's eyes widened at the sight of the blue feline, she raised an eyebrow.  
"You kept your cat in your purse?" Rachel turned around at her words.  
"Yes, Katie likes to avoid crowds. She wanted to swipe a crab cake or two."  
"Hmm." Liv hummed. "Very strange behavior for a cat."  
"Well at this point Katie is anything but an ordinary cat." the girl placed the blue back in her purse. "And very adorable."  
"She's a menace." Ari huffed. "A furry pain in the neck."  
"Aww but she likes you."  
"Why?!"

The superheroes giggled at the girl's banter, happy that things were more lighthearted after such a thrilling monster hunt. However, the question of how Knox became a monster, that was unanswered. Perhaps it was a freak accident after-all.

But it would be answered another day, for Big Hero 6 still had other villains to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's Big Problem, cue the internal screaming from distressed readers.
> 
> I don't have to write that much of "Liv" until next season... ich.
> 
> And anyways Ari no what are you doing Ari no XD. I bet y'all are vibing with Katie because she no like "Liv" 
> 
> Animals have good senses! Katie can tell something is off about this whole situation, but she's not sure what it is. 
> 
> Until next week. Hehehehe


	48. Chapter 47: (Steamer’s Revenge) Birthday Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang plan Wasabi's birthday

"So, what should we get Wasabi for his birthday?" Honey Lemon asked the group. They were at Fred's house for a very important Saturday meeting. Wasabi would be turning twenty-one in a few days and they had to make it special.

"A gift bag?" Ari yawned, there were faint bags under her eyes.

"That's kind of lame." Gogo told her bluntly. "Kiddo did you stay up late?"  
"No." She rubbed her eyes. "I was up early for my trip, remember? To Sycorax?"  
"Ooh I remember you telling us about that!" Honey Lemon smiled. "How was it?"  
"So much biotech mumbo-jumbo that made Karmi fangirl, but I was just plain confused. What I can remember is that the floor had scanners and there was a lot of studying of nature and animals."  
"Did you get your memory fixed?" Hiro asked, to the group's surprise, she shook her head.

"No, according to the scanners there was some chemical injected into me that made me lose my memories, and whoever made it knew how to make it last. The best Liv could do is wipe out the remaining traces." Ari rubbed her neck. "Still hurts a little."  
"Aw." Honey Lemon walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry Ari, I knew how excited you were to potentially regain your memories."  
"It wasn't that bad." She sighed. "I got to hang out with Karmi, and since she'll be getting an internship there next semester-"  
Hiro gagged behind her.  
"I want to spend as much time as I can before we can't hang out as much." There was a questionable look on her face. "Though at least I learned how I got my amnesia, however you told me it wasn't Obake. Was it any other science baddies you've faced?"  
" _No matter if they use science or not. We will defeat them in the name of justice!_ " Mini-Max boasted on top of Fred's head, the little robot had been silent for awhile.  
"I'll add that to the wall." Hiro commented, Ari just groaned.  
"Hirooo, stop it with the conspiracy wall." For the past few days she had seen her brother obsess about the conspiracy wall he made that connected Obake to every villainous happening around the city. Since crime had been down due to their work, he had nothing better to do. But Ari had to physically drag him out of the garage a few times, and with Baymax's help to boot.

* * *

The others began listing gifts for Wasabi, from a Dandy Boy costume aka Captain Fancy's sidekick, to puppies that he'd be allergic too. They had no idea what to get him.  
"We should just get Wasabi cash in a paper bag, he can do what he wants with it no questions asked." Gogo suggested, the others were silent. "Why aren't you writing that down?"  
"I don't think it'd be… special enough." Honey Lemon explained.  
"Guys." Hiro spoke up. "You know how Wasabi's car is still stuck in the bay-"  
"He has a car and it magically got stuck in the bay?" Ari questioned. "How?"  
The others flinched at the memory. "Long story." Hiro showed them an old picture they took. With the gang around his car, it was during his making of the microbots and they took a relaxing joyride through town. "What if we got it out and fixed it up for him?"  
"Hiro, that's a great idea!" Honey Lemon wrote it down on a whiteboard and circled it.  
"I'm down." Gogo nodded, they started to leave the room.  
"Someone should distract Wasabi while you guys fix the car." Fred suggested to them.  
"Good call Fred." Hiro flashed a thumbs up as he left.

Behind him, Action 7 News starts to play on the TV. " _We interrupt 'Foods I don't care for' for some actual news._ " On screen, there is a statue of Boss Awesome out in the bay. " _Boss Awesome, beloved San Fransokyo superhero is now larger than life thanks to this beautiful brand-new Mega Monument in the bay. The super statue was a gift from..._ " Bluff Dunder looks down at his cue cards. " _Who is it a gift from?_ " he whispers to the off-screen crew.

"That's my dad!" Fred boasted. "Boss Awesome! They're always making statues of him! Usually not this big though..."  
" _According to the Heropedia, Boss Awesome is considered the greatest superhero of all time!_ " Mini-Max added.  
"Yeah, he's made the cover of Super People Magazine like ten times."  
" _It would be extremely difficult for his offspring to measure up to such a remarkable legacy!_ "  
"Yeah it would."  
On the news, Bluff crawled back to his desk. " _Well, find out! I look like a super idiot here without a story!_ "  
Fred gasped in horror at a sudden realization. "Wait… I'M his offspring!" He never stopped to realize how awesome Boss Awesome was. He was the light in the dark ages, the protector of the city, a patron of good and justice.

How was he supposed to become a hero as good as his dad was? "Oh boy, never thought about that!"  
" _Now, back to 'Foods I don't care for', part two: Black jelly beans._ "

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Wasabi I hope you're gonna have the best birthday soon. You deserve it!

Wasabi: Thanks!

Sara Ferns: Hopefully Mikan shows up… THIS TIME

Mikan Ferns: A girl misses a birthday party one time!

Mikan Ferns: Also congrats on reaching legal drinking age buddy,

Wasabi: Thanks but no thanks

Fredzilla: Wait Mikan you drink?

Mikan Ferns: Sometimes, occasionally, like a sip or two… chill down you're not my dad

Rachel Rosemary: It was just one question pal

Sara Ferns: Quit mocking me Mika

Mikan Ferns: Never : P

Fredzilla: Oh Rachel! Can I ask you something?

Rachel Rosemary: Sure

Fredzilla: Do you ever feel the burden of trying to live up to your dad?

Sara Ferns: Wow man. Heavy question

Mikan Ferns: All the time

Wasabi: He didn't ask you -_-

Rachel Rosemary: Sometimes, when I was younger I worried that I wouldn't turn out great as him. But now I just remember that I just have to be me. Sides, he's just a good detective, not like he's some legendary hero or something.

Fredzilla: Thanks.

Rachel Rosemary: You're welcome

* * *

Hiro opened up the garage door, Ari and Baymax behind him. "If we're gonna fish Wasabi's car out of the Bay, we're gonna need some new underwater gear." He fist bumps the robot.

"Can I come too?" Ari asked, she had offered to help Hiro make the gear, but wanted to join the expedition as well. "I promise to do everything you ask."  
He sighed. "Of course you can come sis, what kind of question is that?"  
She perked up, a wide smile grew on her face. "Thank you so much!"  
Before they could start however, Cass entered the garage. "Hey kids!"  
"Oh uh..." Hiro gave a nervous chuckle. "Hey Aunt Cass."  
"Hi." Ari awkwardly waved. "What is it?"  
"Well, David wanted to speak with us." She explained. "He said it was very important."  
"Oh, did he?" Ari frowned, crossing her arms. Hiro stared at her puzzled. _What was going on in her mind?_

They followed Cass into the cafe, where David was by the counter, he had a sullen look on his face.  
"Hey David." Hiro gave a friendly greeting. "Haven't seen you in the cafe in awhile."  
"Yeah..." he flinched. "I didn't want to hurt your sister at all."  
"What?" Hiro stared at him in confusion, Ari had a neutral expression.

"Hmm." She frowned.  
"First of all, I'm really sorry about what happened." David rubbed his shoulder."Second um... Cass? I also came to ask a favor."  
"Oh!" Cass smiled. "What is it?" He leaned in to whisper, both siblings saw her green eyes widened. "Oh, oh, of course." She then headed over to the room that had all of her display knives back when she did the Food Fights.

Ari groaned. "Is this about your mom and her knives?"  
"Maybe..." David sweatdropped.

"You better not be handing them over to her!"

"I'm not! I swear! I just want a keepsake to remember when she gets arrested again."

"Oh." Now she felt bad.  
Hiro glanced back and forth. "Wait, what about his mom? Sally?"  
She winced. "Hey, remember that one time I got kidnapped by Momakase?"

"Unfortunately." he grumbled, feeling the hot flare of anger again.  
"Long story, that was..." she glanced back and forth, "David's birth mom."  
Hiro gasped. "Yeah, shocking." Ari huffed.  
"I said I was sorry..." David pouted.  
She crossed her arms. "Your mom gave me a black eye because you-"  
"Ari!" Hiro spoke up, she clamped her mouth. "I don't think it's fair to blame David for something he had no control of, knock it off."  
She felt ashamed. "Sorry, David." Her tone was sincere.  
He then turned to David. "You don't have to say sorry for something your mom did."  
"I guess."  
Ari stared at her brother, confused that he wasn't mad. "That's all you have to say?"  
"I'm just keeping my shock boiled down so I don't have an outburst in the cafe." He confessed. "And I've heard weirder."  
"Weirder?" She raised an eyebrow.  
"Weirder."  
"Okay, I'm back!" They both jumped when Cass walked back to the counter, she carried a briefcase Hiro could guess were the graphene knives she won from Momakase. "Here you go, David."  
"Thanks Cass." He accepted the case with a smile. "And um, y guys have a good day." David started to exit.

"You're always welcome in the cafe!" Ari called after him. "And sorry again for my attitude!"  
"Attitude?" Cass frowned at Ari.  
"Well..." She sweatdropped. "I kind of was mad at him for a dumb reason?  
Hiro patted her on the shoulder. "You're good."

"Thanks." They both waved Cass goodbye and headed back to the garage, Baymax waddled up to Hiro.

" _Hiro, I detect levels of stress._ " The robot stated, Hiro in response just buried his face into Baymax's vinyl chest and screamed his lungs out.

Ari stared awkwardly. _He really was keeping his shock boiled down..._

* * *

"Oxygen tank?"  
"Check."  
"Webbed hands and flippers?"  
"Check!"  
"Safe for diving?"  
" _Yes._ "

"Alright," Hiro pressed a button. "Suit warmers, on." Which insulated his new underwater suit, the visor turned orange.  
"Which button is that?" Ari questioned, she was wearing a similar suit to him, but instead of the blue to match the red colors of Hiro and Baymax, her's was tinted indigo.  
"The one on the left."  
She pressed it, and her visor turned orange. "Oooh."  
"Let's dive." Hiro jumped into the bay first, Ari hopped in after him.

" _I cannot dive._ " Baymax waddled to the edge of the docks, and belly-flopped into the dark sea below.

Ari felt so _alive_ when she hit the water. The sea was refreshing, and she swam playfully in the water. "Whoo!"

Hiro chuckled. "Glad you're enjoying yourself." He was inspecting some old rusted anchors, remember what we came for." And pulled out a GPS tracker for the car.  
"Oh." She swam up to him. "Right." But she still felt so energetic, and this sort of energy was the kind she felt when dipping into Muihara's rivers.

She was by Baymax and they followed the GPS. Ari looked at her surroundings, which were bright and colorful despite the darkness of the night. _I didn't know Hiro installed night vision._ Schools of fish swam below them, crabs littered the sand, and coral reefs popped up behind cliffs of rock and dirt.

"Aah!" Hiro yelped as an eel swam past them. Ari however had a stronger reaction…

"EEL GET IT AWAY!" She screeched, speeding away.  
"Ari!" Hiro called after her as she swam behind a rock. "Ari, the eel left!"  
"Are you sure?!" She yelled back.

" _Yes._ " Baymax told her.

He did not have time for this. "We'll go up ahead, you can wait behind a little, just be careful."  
"Okay!" She waited a few minutes before following, not noticing the pair of grey eyes rising from the sand she kicked up, and started to follow her.

It didn't take long for her to relocate the guys, they were by a thick clump of kelp, upon further inspection she saw that the kelp was just covering a car.

"Woah..." Ari awed. "What's the story behind that?"  
"Remember how I told you when I attempted to fight Yokai and the gang showed up and there was a car chase?" Hiro asked, she nodded. "Well, Gogo accidentally drove into the bay. Good news was that Baymax floated us to safety, bad news we were soaking wet and mentally exhausted."  
"Yikes." She winced, and turned to Baymax. "You really are a lifesaver, and a flotation device!"

" _Yes._ "  
"Aah!" They turned to see Hiro ducking away from the car, because there was a great white shark inside! The shark was livid that they entered its territory, it growled and went charging for Hiro, he swam over to Ari. "Baymax, sonic blaster!"  
" _This will not hurt._ " Baymax started his sonic blaster, which sent out waves to the shark, it roared and was blasted back.  
"Phew." Both teens gave a sigh of relief. Hiro turned to the robot. "Thanks Baymax."  
" _You are welcome._ " As he attached a hook to the car, Ari felt a feeling of dread go down her spine.

That's when she heard it.

That hissing sound, it sent shivers, and it was an " _oh no,_ " from Baymax that got her to turn around.

Behind her, was a black and yellow striped, large and very hungry-

"YELLOW BELLY SEA SNAKE!" Ari howled. "HIRO RUN!" She ducked as it leapt at her.

He turned around. "It's a what?!"  
" _Hydrophis platurus._ " Baymax explained. " _It's venom is highly potent._ "  
"AND FATAL!" Ari ducked another bite. "SWIM AWAY!"  
"But… the car!" Hiro exclaimed, he had spoken too loud, the snake turned away from Ari. And began to speed towards him, Baymax was too slow to sonic blast the creature and she could only stare in horror as it bared it's venomous fangs at her brother!

" _Say goodbye to your little friend!"_

" _NOOOO!"_

"NO!" Ari roared, her eyes glowed blue. She swung her arms and a current shook the snake, it rolled. And then with all of her might, she pushed the snake out of the water, a stream pushing it into a bubble above the surface, it popped and the snake fell back into the sea. But it's scales shuddered with fear at the sight of Ari, and it swam with its tail between it's… body. Only after taking in some breaths she realized what she did.

* * *

"Did I just… bend the water?"

" _Yes,_ " Baymax scanned her. " _There was an unknown energy that coursed through your body when you manipulated the surrounding water. My database cannot determine what source of energy it was._ "  
"Hiro!" Ari swam to her brother, who was staring with wide brown eyes, "did you see that- are you okay!?"  
"Yeah." He gasped for breath. "But Ari, you just controlled the water! You're like a… waterbender!"  
"I know right?!" They both were freaking out. "That's what the weird energy is whenever I dip into a river or a creek or pond, I feel the feeling of controlling water- oh my god this explains so much!" She concentrated and managed to make a small oxygen bubble. "My mind is so blown right now."

"This is so cool though!" Hiro exclaimed. "And I thought travelling to another dimension was the craziest 'out of this world' experience I ever had! Maybe you were born with this!" He turned to the robot. "Baymax! Can you scan if this strange power is something Ari's born with?"  
" _Scanning,_ " Ari was lit up blue as the robot's scanner went over her, " _I can determine that the strange energy that caused you to control water is natural. But I cannot determine if you were born with this ability or not._ "  
"Hm, so did I just get hit by a mermaid and I absorbed its power?" Ari frowned. "Did I get it from my mom or my dad- ow!" Her head burned.

" _Water, so much water it feels like puddy in my hands."_

" _All this power and you use it for tricks?"_

" _Why not not use it against those weaker than you Ariel? It's in our blood to be superior."_

"Ari?" She noticed Hiro waving a hand over her face. "Another flashback?"  
"Yeah." Ari frowned. "It wasn't a nice one." But it had truth, the water powers might be fun for now, but they could be used to hurt someone.

"Oh."

"Um, are we gonna tell the others about this? And I wanna tell Aunt Cass too."  
He flinched. "That might put Aunt Cass in danger if you tell her."  
"I _want_ to tell her." she glared at him. "I don't want to keep secrets. And I don't care if she kicks me out for that, she deserves to know how dangerous I might be."  
"Aunt Cass is not gonna kick you out! She might begin stress eating half of the cafe though," Hiro frowned. "And you're not dangerous."  
"But this power..." Ari shot a bit of water into the sky. "It's deadly."  
Hiro sighed. "A relative of mine once told me that 'with great power comes great responsibility,' you can use your water powers for good."  
" _I agree with this statement._ " Baymax added in. " _Your water powers had rescued Hiro from the yellow-bellied sea snake._ "  
"You guys are right." She sighed. "I can use it to help you lift up the car for example."  
Hiro's eyes brightened. "tThat's the spirit! We'll figure it out with time, don't worry sis." He patted her shoulder. "How are you feeling though?"  
"Tired." She tried bending a bit of water to create a bubble. "I must be rusty because I feel really tired when exerting so much force. Not sure what I'll do with these powers."  
"You could-"  
"I am _not_ becoming a superhero. Too dangerous!"

"Awww." He then cleared his throat. "Um, mind if we tell the others later? Like on a day that's not Wasabi's birthday?"  
"Yeah, of course!" She nodded. "I'd feel bad for taking attention away from his special day, so let's keep this to yourself for a while." _Sides, I'm scared what'll happen if I use these powers for too long..._

As Baymax began pulling the car up, with Ari helping by bending the current upwards and Hiro admiring their handiwork. A small crab watched them with soulless eyes, it skittered across the ocean floor. Next to it, the ground rumbled and shifted, like a drill running underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Steamer's Revenge, an ep where Wasabi gets some spotlight and his car back.
> 
> And yeah,,, Ari's a waterbender now. Surprise? Y'all are probably mad I had to reveal it during Wasabi's birthday but disclaimer: Ari and Hiro aren't going to bring it up (yet) to the gang since it IS Wasabi's birthday and they want their friend to have his special day uninterrupted. 
> 
> I had this plot point planned since early writing, and this was the best chance I could reveal it, tho dw I will explain later. But like hopefully it's not too game changing in this show with plant monsters, glob monsters... clones (speaking of that Ari is fine from her trip she just got let-down relax I swear--) Y'all seem to like Katie so hopefully you don't burn me in the reviews ;-; Let me write my gal in peace.
> 
> And yeah Ari's not going to be a superhero bc of this, but the waterbending may come in handy in the future ;)
> 
> I promise will explain more it'll just take awhile. n.n'


	49. Chapter 48: (Steamer’s Revenge) Water Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasabi's birthday goes a little off-track when Steamer challenges Boss Awesome or else

"I can't wait to see Wasabi's face!"  
" _Here it is._ " There was the sound of a screen flickering to life with an image. " _You are welcome._ "

"I-I mean when he sees his car." Honey Lemon sweatdropped, Hiro, Gogo, Baymax, and Ari were also there to help fix up the car. Fred had volunteered to distract Wasabi so he wasn't there providing moral support. But Ari was trying!

"All good to go." Gogo stated, she then saw Hiro scrolling through a picture on his phone. "Is that a picture of your conspiracy wall?"  
"Yep." Ari nodded. "He really won't let it down."  
"Obake's playing us, I know it," Hiro growled.

Honey Lemon walked up to him. "Don't worry Hiro, we'll be ready." She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"When it really matters," Gogo attempted to place a hand on his shoulder but hesitated, "Yeah, I'm not really a shoulder patter.'' She performed the gesture in an awkward manner.

Ari giggled, the playful banter relaxing her. She exchanged glances with Hiro, he raised an eyebrow and she shook her head, he nodded in agreement. _We're not bringing up the water thing anytime soon._

_At least we managed to tell Aunt Cass…_ Ari thought. _And that took an hour_. If she had to describe that family discussion in a sentence, it would be lots of questions and concerns from Aunt Cass, and both she and Hiro trying to calm Ari's worries of her newfound power putting them in danger. Good news is that she bought the cover story of it randomly happening when Ari passed by the beach, otherwise Aunt Cass _would_ stress eat half of the cafe if she found out what almost happened to Hiro.

* * *

"Happy birthday dear Wasabi! Happy birthday to you!" The group sang, they had finished up the car and were now serving the birthday boy a cake in the cafe.  
"It's my sock drawer!" He squealed at the shape the cake was in. "And it's a cake!"  
"Oh, and don't worry, none of the frostings are touching." Cass explained.  
"I helped out with frosting! And I was very careful!" Ari chipped in.

"It's perfect, except you got the plaid and argyle mixed up but still."  
Gogo crossed her arms. "Wasabi, just blow out your candles."

" _Birthday cakes have a significant increase in bacteria on the surface after candles are extinguished._ " Baymax told them, the images on his screen showing further input.  
"See? This guy gets me." Wasabi nudged the robot, and began putting out the candles with a small extinguisher.

The group exchanged glances, they gestured outside.  
"Follow us." Hiro had a grin on his face as they began to leave.  
"We have a surprise for you!" Honey Lemon added. Wasabi nodded, and quickly extinguished the rest of the candles, Fred had to drag him outside.

"Okay, so what is this surprise?" He asked as Honey Lemon covered his eyes and led him to the garage.  
"A fun surprise!" Fred exclaimed.

Honey Lemon moved her hands away so he can see his newly repaired car.  
"Surprise!" They chorused.  
" _Surprise._ "  
Wasabi stared puzzled. "Hey… that looks like my car."  
"That's because it is your car! But now it's dry!" Fred nodded.

"Hiro and I fished it out of the bay." Ari told him. "There were a lot of barnacles on it."  
"We upgraded a couple of things." Gogo explained.  
"By 'a couple', we mean everything." Hiro added, Wasabi sniffled, he ran and hugged his car happily.  
"You guys! You're giving me all the feels!" He turns to them, Gogo then tossed him the keys, "now, who wants to go for a test drive?" Wasabi flashed the group a smug smirk, they all raised their hands.  
"Uh, can we all fit in there?" Ari questioned, narrowing her eyes at the car. She lowered her hand down.  
"Well we could, but Baymax takes a lot of room." Hiro placed a hand on the robot's belly. "No offense buddy."  
" _I am a robot, I cannot be offended._ "  
"Do you not wanna come with us?" Wasabi asked her.  
"No-no-no I do!" she sputtered, "it's just-  
"Hey! I thought we've moved past this." Fred exclaimed. "You're already part of the group!" She shook her head, it wasn't that all!  
Hiro turned to her. "Maybe you're just too tired from the water expedition." He winked.  
"Right." Ari nodded, winking back. "I guess I am tired." It was the truth, the expedition exhausted her in more ways than one.

"It's fine." Wasabi patted her shoulder. "Thanks for helping me get my car back. I think Sara was gonna kill me if I got another scratch on hers."  
"Well you did drive it towards a supervillain fight."  
"That was one time!"

The group chorused into giggles.

* * *

Elsewhere, a crab skidded across the ocean floor. It's little feet moving through the sand. It stops, an underwater pipe above, the pipe scans it. The crab retracts, curling it's legs as the pipe sucks it up and it begins travelling to a secret underwater base.

At the other end of the pipe was a dark, large room. The only lighting from the bright green computer screens.

Obake was at the screens, analysing a vial of water in his hands, his daughter Mikan was next to him. She was propped up in a chair and fiddling with her phone, she was the first to see the crab skittering towards them.  
"Pops, your pet is back." She teased.  
Obake growled at the nickname with annoyance, but smiled as the robotic crab climbed across his shoulders and onto a panel on the computer desk. The crab deactivated, and transmitted it's footage into the computer. The video played of Hiro, Baymax, and Ari pushing Wasabi's car out of the water.  
"The boy likes to keep busy." he smirked, observing the vial in his hands. "So do I."  
"Woah, back up." Mikan jumped to the computer, noticing the water moving as Ari's hands pushed upwards. "Is she?.." She played the footage back, seeing the part where she bent the water against the sea snake. "Gasp!"

"So, that's what that scientist wanted with her." Obake frowned. "He craved the use of her water powers."  
"Dad, that's impossible!" Mikan exclaimed, in disbelief upon seeing the footage herself. "Ari's like some wizard! She's totally useful to your mystery plans now, right?"  
"No."  
"What-Wh… SHE GOT WATER POWERS!"  
"Don't shout, I know and I don't care." he continued to observe the vials. "You may wish to dissect her if you want to see how she has those powers."  
She gave her dad a weird look. "Uh, no?" Mikan frowned. "And I would miss talking to her."  
The base rumbled, Obake put the vial down and pulled up an outside camera, where a drill emerged from the ground. He found the match in his database.  
"Baron von Steamer? Stupid name." He scoffed, switching the screen to the "City Rising" blueprints.  
"I know, right?" Mikan rolled her eyes. "He's worse than High Voltage, and the only comical thing about them is watching Ari pant and drool after them like a dog! Ha, dog! Get it?"  
"Mikan..."  
"I'll go back to my Candy Crush, you have no sense of humor."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: selfie,png

Sara Ferns: The selfie of me with the Boss Awesome statue! I recorded a video for my channel abt it as I went for ice cream with one of my friends

TheLittleMermaid: Oh you ran into Hiro and the others?

Gogo: We're still in the car

Honey Lemon: Wasabi says hi!

Sara Ferns: I have more friends than my siblings and college friends

Sara Ferns: I have a few blogger friends, we make videos about the news and talk about Big Hero 6 sometimes

Rachel Rosemary: Oh yeah, I remember being a guest in one episode

Rachel Rosemary: Spoiler alert: It was about the time that man-child manhandled my cat

Sienna Kline: Ah, you mean Sparkles?

Rachel Rosemary: Yeah, that brat

Sara Ferns: I hate that guy! His show sucked! But my least favorite villain is Steamer

Fredzilla: Why do you hate Steamer again?

Sara Ferns: He will pay for touching Wasabi with his BLOOD

Hiro Hamada:

Gogo:

Honey Lemon:

Fredzilla:

Hiro Hamada: Wasabi has an "0_0" and does not want to get on your bad side.

* * *

Car horns honked as Wasabi drove slowly through traffic. They were on a hill that had a clear view of the new statue out into the bay. "Your dad's statue looks cool." Gogo commented.  
"Huh." Wasabi glanced out of the window. "It's a lot bigger in person."  
"Okay fine, I get it." Fred was the only one not looking at the statue. "I'll never measure up to my dad, who is so awesome, it's literally in his name."  
"Whatever." Gogo turned to him. "You don't have to be him."  
"You be you, Freddie." Honey Lemon patted his shoulder, he smiled.

"What brought that up anyways?" Wasabi asked.

"Oh uh, I was watching the news report on the statue donation, and it made me realize that… my dad's this awesome amazing hero, and we haven't even had a big arching finale yet!" Fred exclaimed. "I just finally felt the pressure."  
"Well we have been superheroes for only a few months compared to him." Hiro shrugged. "We're still learning, but we have caught some baddies and helped a lot of people."  
"You're right." He hummed, perking up a little. "So, how was the water expedition by the way?"  
"Oh, it was-" Hiro stumbled. _don't bring up Ari's water powers don't bring up Ari's water powers_ … "Fun, Baymax used his sonic blaster to scare away a shark and then there was the snake-" He covered his mouth. "Whoops."  
"Snake?!" Wasabi almost hit the breaks. "You ran into a yellow-bellied sea snake?! Those things could kill a grown man!"  
"Yeah..that was a close one, Baymax was able to scare it off too," Hiro lied.

"Next time, take one of us with you." Gogo crossed her arms.

Fred's phone rang, he answered. "Ooh Heathcliff my man, what do you want?"  
" _Master Frederick, an urgent message from Baron Von Steamer._ " The others turned to him.

"On the phone?"  
" _No._ "

* * *

They drove to Fred's house as soon as they could. "I hope he's not gonna kidnap me again." Wasabi had joked. Neither of them wanted that reality, since last time he had managed to get away with a few burn scars and in a… slightly damp condition.

Heathcliff rolled an old film reel to the group. "Baron's message sir."  
"Oh." Fred turned to his robotic sidekick. "Hit the lights Mini-Max."  
" _I thrive on being useful!_ " the small robot sprinted towards the switch, shutting off the lights.

The reel played on Baymax's chest. " _Greetings, Boss Awesome. It is I, Baron Von Steamer, your archnemesis._ "  
"Really could've just phoned." Fred commented to the others.  
" _Meet me in Night Market Square by tomorrow at noon for an epic showdown! Otherwise I'll, dramatic pause… destroy the city!_ " Steamer cackled. " _Hey uh, I didn't mean to read 'dramatic pause,' but in fact pause dramatically-well you get the gist!_ " The reel ended on his evil laugh, the group just rolled their eyes.  
"We better call your dad or else Steamer is going to _sooo_ destroy San Fransokyo." Hiro sarcastically stated. "He'll steam us all into toast, oooooh."

Fred however looked concerned, "Hiro! You never make fun of a villain's 'I'll destroy the city' threat, because most of the time it backfires!"

* * *

The group didn't notice the pair of red eyes watching them, due to the hidden camera in one of Fred's large stuffed dragons. Obake was the one on the other end.

" _Gee, mister, that old-timey guy sure is gonna mess with your plans._ " NBB was sitting next to him, his little legs kicking the air.  
"Big Hero 6 lives for this sort of thing, not worried." He just switched back to the blueprints, a vial in his hands.

* * *

_Back at Fred's house… specifically Boss Awesome's lair..._

"Can't you show up to showdown on Steamer? You have a private jet!"  
" _I wish I could help son, but-_ "  
"I know, I know." Fred huffed. "You're halfway across the world, at the family rainforest preserve, saving the sloths."

Mr. Frederickson held up a sloth. " _She thinks I'm her mommy._ " the sloth purred as she was wrapped around his arm.  
"He'd never make it in time anyway." Gogo pointed out.

" _Steamer has pulled this same stunt a dozen times._ " Mr. Frederickson explained.

"Threatened to destroy the entire city unless you show up to a showdown?" Hiro questioned.

" _Bingo._ "  
"How did you beat him?" Honey Lemon asked.

" _Yes, I am confused._ " Mini-Max chimed in. " _According to Hero-pedia, you were repeatedly captured._ "  
" _While he gloated about his plans, I'd bust out and save the day._ " Mr. Frederickson explained.

Hiro frowned. "Wait, so every time you pretended to get captured, Steamer would just explain his plan?"  
" _Like clockwork_."  
"What are you thinking, Hiro?" Honey Lemon turned to him.

"What if we dress Fred up as Boss Awesome?" He suggested.  
"And wait for Steamer to reveal his plan, so we can be ready to stop it!" Wasabi added.  
"What happened to me being me?" Fred complained.  
"New plan, you be him." Gogo told him.  
"For now at least." Honey Lemon added in.  
" _What do you say son?_ " Mr. Frederickson stared at him, Fred took a deep breath, he'd swallow his discomfort for the sake of the city.  
"Classic!"

* * *

Mikan huffed as she filled up a vial of water. _Dad had to make me do this for "life experience,_ she thought sarcastically.  
" _Whatcha doin, Mika?_ " NBB stared at her with his beady eyes.  
"Pops is having me turn the H2O water in the ocean into D2O." Mikan hummed. "Though it's been kind of slow..." _Thanks to stinkin 'Steamer._

" _What's Dad doing that for?_ "  
"I dunno what for." she shrugged, holding up a vial, "But did you know isolating the deuterium turns water into fuel?" Mikan poured the vial into a jar.

" _What's deuterium Mika?_ " NBB asked.

"In a nutshell, heavy water." She huffed. "Why don't you go bug our sister? Or Globby?" Mikan nudged him away. "Mika needs some alone time."  
The robot tilted his head. " _Gee whiz, you sound kind of sad._ "  
She frowned, sure she'd rather be hanging with David, Sara, or even Hiro and company instead of doing heavy work, but her dad needed the help. "I'm fine, just..." An idea struck her. "Can you bring me some food?"

" _Order up!_ " NBB happily hopped away, Mikan gave a sigh of relief when he left. _My new little brother can be a handful._

_But he only likes you because Dad reprogrammed him._ Her consciousness told her.

"Uhg." She groaned. "I'm starting to rethink my life choices… a little." _Wonder what my dad would use this for? Fuel obviously, I hope this doesn't do too much damage to the bay. I do like the scenery of my home after all, it would suck if anything hurt the city._

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Ariel: Status update?

Speed Queen: Steamer took the bait

Chop Chop: So we're just waiting and listening through the comms

Captain Cutie: Aka the boring part.

Chem Girl: Freddie did a great Boss Awesome impression!  
Ariel: I heard

Captain Cutie: Oh good the comms are working for you.

Ariel: Well the microphone isn't, so I can't speak

Chop Chop: Oof

Ariel: This cures my boredom, also I need to know if I should start hiding in a bunker or not

Speed Queen: Kiddo you'll be fine, we do this stuff a lot.

Captain Cutie: qoqlc[o[lo[

Chem Girl: Hiro?

Captain Cutie: Flying and typing on Baymax at the same time is not a good idea!

* * *

Wasabi drummed on the rims of the steering wheel, trying to relax the anxiety in his chest.

"Fred will be fine, relax Wasabi." Gogo told him, but he could see the worry in her eyes. "He's waltzed with Steamer before and he can do it again."

The comms buzzed, signaling them that Fred was most likely in the center of Steamer's scheme, they stayed silent with bated breath.

" _Wh-I mean uh-where have you taken me Steamer!_ " They heard Fred on the comm, his "Boss Awesome" impression deeping his voice like Hiro did with his "Captain Cutie" impression.  
" _My revenge! Muhahahah!_ " Steamer cackled, " _I'm going to make you watch the destruction of your beloved San Fransokyo before I destroy you!_ "  
" _And...?_ " Fred probed.  
" _And what?_ "

" _Are you gonna tell me in great detail how you're going to destroy the city?_ "  
" _No, I'm just going to destroy it._ " Wasabi mouthed a "what," to Gogo and Honey Lemon, who both were concerned at the direction their plan was going.

" _What?_ " Fred was wording his thoughts aloud there.

" _You see, I realized you always beat me because I explained my plan right before I went through with it! But not this time!_ " Steamer explained.

" _Uh, but wouldn't it be fun to tell me?_ " Fred questioned.

" _It would be delicious… but must resist oversharing!_ "  
" _Come on Steamer._ " Fred taunted him. " _No villain can resist the urge to revel in their own brilliance!_ " Wasabi had the mental image of the old supervillain cowering as Fred kept teasing him, tied to a pole. _Now I wish the comms had video feed._

" _You're right, I can't resist a good revel!_ " Their eyes lit up. " _But that is why I am taking precautions!_ " There was the ripping of something and Steamer's cackling suddenly became muffled.

" _Nooo!_ " Fred yowled.

As Steamer gave a muffled cackle, Wasabi realized that he must've used duct tape to cover his mouth.

"Now what?" He turned to the girls.

"We have to figure out where the attack is going to come from." Honey Lemon explained.

" _Steamer could show up anywhere._ " Hiro said through the comms. " _And he has a drill car._ "

_Screech!_

All of them winced as they heard microphone feedback. " _You know, for a child prodigy, you disappoint me._ "

Honey Lemon was covering her helm and growling in anger at the sound of the voice, Gogo and Wasabi had similar reactions.

" _Obake._ " Hiro sounded angry through the comms. " _And for a grown man, you do a lot of nonsense._ "  
The man on the other line ignored the jab. " _Isn't it obvious, Hiro? Steamer's end game? Think bigger._ " And the feedback whined as he cut off.

"Well, that was creepy." Wasabi grumbled.

" _Think bigger._ " Hiro mumbled, then he gasped. " _Guys, that Boss Awesome statue, it's a weapon!_ "  
They turned to statue, just as he said those words, the statue hissed steam as it transformed into a Baron von Steamer statue!

"That explains why it was an anonymous donor." Gogo commented.  
Wasabi unmuted Fred's comm, muffled noises were on the other line. " _Okay I think you're being evil but I can't tell._ " He heard Fred say to Steamer.  
There was the sound of tape being ripped off. " _Aah! Sorry. Completely forgot I gagged myself._ " The old villain rasped, " _what I said was… Say goodbye to San Fransokyo!_ "  
" _The statue! Of course!_ " Fred realized.  
Steamer gave an evil cackle. " _Yes! The Boss Awesome statue was a secret weapon the whole time! Oooh! Oh it feels good to let it out!_ " Wasabi muted the comm again upon hearing even more evil cackling. _Hold on a moment Fred. We'll get you out of there soon._

But first, they had a city to save, again...

* * *

He turned to the window, noticing the statue starting to fill up it's steam tank with the Bay's water. "It's sucking up the water in the Bay, so it can-"  
"Blast the city with it!" Gogo narrowed her eyes.  
"How cruel." Honey Lemon frowned. "And he said he wasn't going to destroy the city if 'Boss Awesome' appeared at the showdown."  
"Villains never follow their vows Honey Lemon."  
" _I have an idea._ " Hiro told them. " _I'll use the underwater gear to take down the steam tank before it sucks up enough water._ "  
"Sounds like a plan." Wasabi started driving down to the bay, as a splash was heard from Hiro's end.  
" _Baymax, overdrive mode._ "  
"But overdrive mode will drain Baymax's battery, Hiro." Honey Lemon warned him.

" _My systems cannot fully function on low battery._ " The robot added.

" _I know Baymax, but we need as much speed as we can get._ "  
"For what?" Wasabi questioned, what was Hiro doing?

" _No time to explain, Baymax?_ "  
" _Entering overdrive mode._ " Wasabi listened to the sounds of his teammates moving in the water as he drove closer to the docks. He gasped in horror as the Steamer statue lifted up it's steam gun, preparing to blast the city.

" _Baymax, sonic blaster, now!_ " He heard Hiro, and watched just as the weapon was about to fire, the steam tank broke and the water spilled out.

" _I did the thing!_ " Baymax slurred as he imagined them hitting into the water, Wasabi gave a sigh of relief.

He unmuted Fred's comm again.

" _Big Hero 6 for the win! Say whaaat?_ " Fred was practically jumping for joy on the other end. " _I mean-I mean-I mean, classic!_ "  
Steamer huffed, " _I wouldn't drop that annoying catchphrase so fast if I were you. It also occurred to me that you win every time because I never have a plan B! Behold!_ " He heard the villain tapping something paper, Wasabi mentally imaged Steamer showing Fred a book labeled "plan B."  
" _I don't even know who you are anymore._ "  
He muted the comms again, not wanting to be deafened by more villainous cackling. "Be on your guard guys." Wasabi turned to the girls.  
" _Hello, I'm balalalala, I swim in the water._ "  
" _Baymax!_ " Sounded like the robot was down for the count in low-battery mode. " _Huh?"_

"Wasabi, look." Gogo pointed to the Steamer statue as the limbs fell apart and the torso and head turned into a submarine speeding through the water.

" _Um..._ " Hiro stuttered, " _guys?_ "  
"Don't worry Hiro, we're on it."  
"We are?" Wasabi turned to Gogo. _I'm not sure what we can do against a submarine._

"You still haven't tested the coolest new feature we added." She pointed to a blue button with a water symbol. "Just press that button."

He frowned. "How's a self-car wash button gonna help us Gogo?"  
"That's not a self-car wash button." Honey Lemon told him.

"What is it? A button that transforms my car into an underwater car?" He jokingly asked, upon seeing his friend's smiles, he squealed. "It's a button that transforms my car into an underwater car!" He pressed it, and just as the car flew into the Bay like all those months ago, this time the windows didn't shatter and his car transformed into an underwater car.

"Best birthday ever!" He laughed as he drove through the water, he saw on the GPS three dots.  
"Heat seeking missiles!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.

"We have to divert them! Fast!"

"Button for that." Gogo pressed the yellow button right of the blue button, the car sped up towards the missiles.  
"Freddie, time to get out of there." Honey Lemon pressed the comm button.  
" _No! That's the wrong target!_ " Wasabi heard Steamer yell. _Good, the missiles won't attack the city now._

" _And I'm guessin' you don't have a Plan C?_ " Fred cheekily replied.

* * *

Just as the missiles were about to hit them, Wasabi pulled up and drove for Steamer's sub. He grinned as he drove out of the way and watched the missiles hit the sub, there was a large splash. Wasabi smiled when he drove back to the shore and saw Fred get out safely, but frowned when seeing Steamer crawl to the docks.

"Out of my way, millennial!" The old villain tossed a citizen off his segway and attempted to use it as a getaway vehicle, but was stopped as the car headlights flashed at him. Hiro emerged from the water to block Steamer as they got out of their car.

"You won this time, Big Hero 6. But mark my words, I will have my reveng-" he was cut off as Fred leapt onto his back, poked points on his shoulders, removed his boot, and began tickling his foot.  
"Goochie-goochie-goochie."  
"Stop it! Please! No, please I despise getting tickled! I'll do anything!"  
"Will you surrender and turn yourself in to the police?"  
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I-I'll surrender and turn myself in to the police! No! Please!"

Meanwhile, they all cringed at seeing the old villain getting tickle-tortured by Fred.

They tied up Steamer and tossed him into the back of Wasabi's car, as Fred ripped off the fake moustache he had on. "Wait! You're not Boss Awesome!" Steamer realized he had been played. "You're his baby child! Mark my words! I will have me re-"  
Gogo slammed the car door shut. "I just can't with the revenge-vowing anymore."  
"Nice Fred." Hiro smiled at the comic fan. "Was that one of your dad's moves?"  
He lifted up his goggles. "Yeah, but I put my own twist on it." Fred placed the fake moustache on his chest.  
"What do you call it?" Wasabi asked.

"I was thinkin' the 'Goochie Goochie Gatcha.'"

"As Mr. Frederickson would say..."  
"Classic!" They all exclaimed.

" _Classic._ " Baymax slurred as he dragged himself to shore.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: IT'S A TRAP!

Sienna Kline: ?

Rachel Rosemary: I assume you mean the fake Boss Awesome statue

Sara Ferns: It was a fake!?

Hiro Hamada: Did you not see the statue turn into Baron von Steamer? Attempt to blast the city, and fall apart?!

Sara Ferns: I was at my shift at Noodle Burger

Wasabi: Wait! No!

Fredzilla: Noodle Burger Boy whyyyyyyy!

Gogo: Oh get over it -_-

Rachel Rosemary: Well since Steamer is in jail according to the news, we're safe, for now.

Honey Lemon: What do you mean for now?

Rachel Rosemary: Well maybe doomsday will come from the sky next time

TheLittleMermaid: I doubt it

Sienna Kline: This is why you always question anonymous donors

Sienna Kline: Classic villain trap 101

Fredzilla: FINALLY! A KINDRED SPIRIT!

* * *

After their heroic victory, the gang met back at the garage. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still creeped out that Obake was able to hack us." Wasabi commented. Hiro just kept looking at his conspiracy board.

"And how weird was it that he helped us?" Honey Lemon added.

"Yeah, why would he help us save the city?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe it wasn't about the city." They turned to Hiro as he placed a pin at the "City Rising" painting's water. "It was about the water.

* * *

Elsewhere, a villainous figure smirked as the screen confirmed a tank was 100% full of D2O.  
"Thank you, Big Hero 6." Obake grinned.

Next to him, Mikan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for not noticing the literal weapon in the bay." She scoffed. "Idiots..."

"Curb that attitude young lady."  
"Hey Pops." Mikan turned to her father. "You going to tell me what converting the H2O into D2O was-"  
"No."  
"Aw man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikan why are you like this? XD
> 
> So Steamer's Revenge, glad you guys didn't kill me over Ari being a waterbender.
> 
> She's not going to be a superhero? Idk why you guys keep saying that, even at the slight chance she is... she's not going to join Big Hero 6.
> 
> I'm not going to bring up the water powers every chapter (that'd be annoying), but eventually Hiro and Ari are going to have to tell the gang.
> 
> But hopefully whatever they are... they are used as a force for good.
> 
> Next week y'all are gonna RIOT because Hiro you dumb noodle XD


	50. Chapter 49: (The Bot-Fighter) Robbers and Fighters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh here comes trouble

" _Breaking news now! Tiny bot crime wave targets San Fransokyo! The techno terrors' latest victim? Joe's Diner. Beloved home of the Joe Dog._ "

Ari groaned at Bluff Dunder's report. "There goes another one." She huffed. There had been a recent string of robberies to establishments, she saw on the news Hiro, Fred, and Baymax fighting a small dog, but there was another one sneakily grabbing the register. " _Even Big Hero 6 wasn't 'big' enough heroes._ "  
She slammed her head onto the counter, she just wanted to get through her day in the Lucky Cat.

"Oh man! I was so busy with the three-headed one, I missed my chance to fight a kraken!" She overheard Fred complain to the group, they were mostly upset about their failure to protect Joe's Diner.

"Hey Ari." She diverted her attention to greet Mikan, who had walked up to the counter. "I'd like a black coffee with two sugars."  
"So, the usual." Ari hummed, getting a cup from the coffee machine. Steam hissed as the drink was poured. _I never noticed that the piece Hiro used to fix the coffee machine was a part of Steamer's steam tank… nice way to put that old tech to use._ She chuckled, handing the cup to Mikan.  
"Thank you." Mikan replied with her change, then noticed the circles under her eyes. "What's keeping you up?"  
"I've been keeping watch over the cafe." Ari yawned. "I'm not letting no tiny robot steal from us."  
"Interesting." Mikan hummed, taking a sip from her cup. "How is that going? What steps do you take?"  
"Well, I wake up early, like an hour before the cafe opens. And I keep guard two hours after it closes, and Mochi has been sleeping on the counter for the past few days. So if anyone comes in, he can alert us. Like a cat alarm!" Ari explained. "Pretty smart, right?"  
"Yes, smart." Her eyes gleamed. "Clever of you to keep watch, I know that the Lucky Cat Cafe will be safe under your eye."  
"Thanks!"

"You're welcome." They chatted until Ari got a message from her phone.

Hiro: Meet at Fred's house, asap.

"Oh, gotta go." She turned to Cass, "Aunt Cass! I'm going to Fred's house!"  
"Okay!" Cass replied, "stay safe!"  
"I will!" Ari waved to Mikan as she exited, the snow-haired girl carried a sinister smile as she left.

* * *

Ari opened the door to Fred's room and found the gang sitting by the couches. "I'm here," she walked up to them.  
"Right on time." Hiro greeted her. "I've called this meeting because we need to talk about the serial robberies."  
"Can someone explain?"  
"Hiro suspected this guy named Stan because it was his bot that robbed Joe's Diner." Gogo explained. "But when we got there…"  
"The police were already arresting him." Wasabi added. "She's all caught-up, now what?"  
"Well, I have a theory about the robberies," He told them. "Baymax?"  
" _According to the police reports, these suspects were arrested after their bots were caught stealing on camera._ " The robot brought up four mugshots.  
"But the police haven't found any trace of the stolen cash, which means..."  
"They already spent it." Gogo took a sip of her drink.

"They lost it?" Ari guessed.  
"Or they wisely invested it?" Wasabi also guessed.  
Honey Lemon guessed correctly. "Or they didn't steal it."

"Exactly!" Hiro pointed to her.  
"Yes!"  
"Look, I know these people, none of them could pull off a crime spree."

"How do you know these people?" Ari raised an eyebrow. "I thought your job was to arrest criminals, not befriend them."  
"No, that's your job." Hiro cheekily replied.  
"Hey!" The others snickered.

"I knew them from my bot-fighting days, one must know their way around the ring to succeed." Hiro explained. "Anyways, who do we know in the bot-fighting world who could mastermind a crime wave?"  
"Aunt Cass..." Fred whispered.  
"Obake?" Ari frowned.  
"Yama." The others answer without hesitation.  
"Yama! So close." The comic fan huffed, then turned to Ari. "Why did you think it's Obake?"  
"Because he's been a thorn in your side?" She shrugged. "I don't know every villain you guys fight."

"Not everything criminal lately is because of the big bad." Fred told her. "Classic superhero 101."  
"What do you think, Baymax?" Honey Lemon asked the robot.  
" _While possible, there is no evidence to support this theory._ " He explained.  
"Ooh! Me! Me!" Fred frantically raised his hand. "I know exactly how we can get evidence!" He runs over to his comic book shelves and plucks one out. "Much like in the _Captain Fancy Holiday Espionage Special_ , we need to go undercover to find the evidence!"  
"We're not going undercover." Gogo shutted it down.  
"Come on, Gogo, I already got fake mustaches for everyone."  
"It's not a good idea."  
"Actually." Hirp spoke up. "It's a great idea-"  
"Ha!" Fred cuts him off, he was wearing one of the mustaches from the wall behind the tv, Ari made a mental note to question where he got that stuff.  
"I mean, it's mostly a great idea." He elaborated. "Just not the part where we all go."  
"You're right." Fred removes the mustache he put on Baymax. "Baymax is pretty conspicuous."  
"No Fred, I have to go alone, I-I know that world. I'm the perfect spy." He knew his way around the ring, which person to not anger, and when matches were. He could practically do it with his eyes closed!

The others, on the other hand... had quizzical reactions, even his sister was frowning at him. "What? I can handle this, guys!"  
"Yeah, but remember how Tadashi did everything he could to pull you out of the very dangerous, very illegal world of bot fighting?" Wasabi pointed out.

"I don't know Hiro, it might not be the best idea." Honey Lemon added.  
Meanwhile, Gogo batted away the fake mustache Fred was trying to put on her. "Stop it!"  
"I agree with everyone," Fred frowned, "except for Gogo's harsh denial of the mustache."  
"Ari?" He turned to her, hoping that at least _someone_ would agree with him.

"I have faith in you." Ari told him, he gave a sigh of relief. "A little bit."  
"Kiddo, really?" Gogo shook her head.  
"What? Hiro's just gonna go poke around, I trust him."  
"See?" He pointed to her. "I won't actually be fighting, I-I'll only be there long enough to find out what Yama's up to. It's our best shot."  
They all exchange reluctant glances, they didn't want to put Hiro in that situation but he was right. He was the one best equipped for spying, they just hoped it would only be for one night.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: The Noodle Burger I work at got hit

Fredzilla: Noodle Burger Boy….. : (

Mikan Ferns: Cry me a river

Gogo: Dude

Sara Ferns: Mika!

Hiro Hamada: Which Noodle Burger do you work at?

Sara Ferns: The Noodle Burger two blocks away from SFIT, most of my shifts are after school. So it's a quick walk

TheLittleMermaid: You got robbed?

Sara Ferns: It wasn't during my shift. I came in today and the manager told me that there was a robbery last night

Wasabi: Glad you weren't hurt

Sara Ferns: Thanks, but these serial robberies are ticking me off!

Sienna Kline: Same

TheLittleMermaid: Ditto, I'm this close to falling asleep on the counter

Fredzilla: Ari plz get some rest

TheLittleMermaid: No! I must keep alert!

TheLittleMermaid: I'll just chug coffee

Sara Ferns: You're too young

TheLittleMermaid: I work in a coffee shop and I do what I want!

* * *

It was late at night, Cass had closed the cafe and was fast asleep. Hiro was on his computer searching for where the latest bot-fight was. It felt like the old days, fresh outta high school and having an itch for mischief.

Ari leaned over his shoulder. "You seem excited."  
"Uh-huh."  
"Should I be concerned?"  
He shook his head. "No, just reminiscing about older times."

"I didn't know you were a serious bot-fighter." Ari brushed a tuft of hair out of her eyes. "Frankly, I'm not sure what one is."  
He swirled his chair so he was facing her. "Well, a bot-fighter is someone who competes in bot-fighting matches, battles with their homemade small robots, like Megabot here." He gestured to his bot, the smiley-faced bot that was currently collecting dust on his desk.  
"Oh, why's it illegal?" She raised an eyebrow. "And why's it dangerous?"  
"Long story." He turned to his screen, he had found a fight by the usual ring. "Welp, that's my queue. You guys stay here."  
" _But, Hiro-_ " Baymax spoke up.  
"I'm sorry Baymax." Hiro scooted to the robot. "Yama's already bot-napped you once. It's safer if you stay here."  
"Am I staying too?" Ari shivered. "I can come, I-I'm not scared of Yama anymore."  
He raised an eyebrow. "You're not?"  
"Y-yeah! He only kidnapped me because Obake told him too! And he's not gonna do that ever again so-so I'm good!"

"Then why are you shaking?" Hiro gestured to her shivering knees.  
"I-I'm not!"  
" _Shivering can be a sign of low body temperature or a sense of fear._ " Baymax pointed out.  
"Fine..." Ari huffed. "But if it is dangerous everyone says, I'd be a bad sister for letting you go back into that world."  
Hiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going back because I want to, I'm going because it's the right thing to do."  
" _It is the right thing to do. But it is also illegal. I do not understand._ " Baymax stared at him.

"I'll explain later." Hiro flipped up his hoodie and began walking down the stairs, but Ari pulled him into a hug.  
"Last hug, be safe." She squeezed him tight and kissed his cheek. "I love you."  
Hiro flashed her a warm, comforting smile. "I love you too, I promise to be safe."

* * *

He sprinted into an alleyway, a dog barked as he ran past neon colored signs and filthy dumpsters. He flipped his hood on as he entered a "abandoned" building, when in reality it was lit blue on the inside, and several other bot-fighters were in. He smirked a bit as he saw the match going on, he recognized Gus, an experienced bot-fighter with a scorpion bot fighting someone new. He ducked under the stairs when Yama and the referee walked past him.

The guards behind them were conversing. "The guy put mayo on my noodle burger after I said 'no mayo,' I had to hurt him."  
"I like mayo."  
As Yama headed upstairs, Hiro crept behind the crowd, curious about the match as people cheered.

That's when he saw her, and her wormlike bot.

She was about a year or two older than him judging by looks, her skin was fair, she had auburn hair and light cold-blue eyes. She wore a purple beanie, a pink sleeveless shirt, grey jeans with stars that went to her ankles, and black fingerless gloves. Her bot chittered as it circled the scorpion, and then a claw broke it. The girl gasped and the crowd cheered. The referee removed her name from the board.  
"You've fought every night this week, and you haven't made it past the first round once!" Gus tossed a piece of her bot back to her. "Take some advice from a pro, Trina. Give up."

"You wish Gus." Trina sneered. "I'm playing the long game."

Hiro watched her leave the circle and retreat to one of the back corners where most fighters tweak their bots before a fight. He glanced to the stairs, now was his chance. He sprinted over but jumped to the wall when seeing two guards walk down.

"Ketchup on your noodle burger, I can get behind that. Mustard? Relish? Great." He snuck behind them.  
"Mayo!"

Hiro took one step up the stairs and saw Yama heading down, he gasped, he was so dead for sure.  
"Shh!" A pair of hands reached out and pulled him into a corner, Yama didn't notice.

Hiro got a good look at the face who rescued him. "Relax, would you?" It was Trina, she was speaking more softly to him.

"What're you doing?" He asked her.  
"Saving you, obviously."  
"I don't need saving." He stood up and hit his head. Hiro placed a hand to where he bumped into the ceiling. "But thanks." Hiro tried to walk away but Trina dragged him back.  
"Why were you sneaking into Yama's office anyway? Last I checked, you were blacklisted, Hamada."  
"I'm sorry, have we met?" He flipped his hoodie on, he didn't recognize her at all from his bot-fighting days, and he'd know a pretty face like th- _wait what?_

"Any bot-fighter worth their circuits knows you." She narrowed her eyes. "You were a legend. Until you became a loser."  
"A what?" He huffed in offense. "I never lost!"

"Quitting is the same as losing." Trina pointed out. "Now get out of here before Yama sees you!"  
"Uh, why do you care?" Hiro questioned, he got up to the stairs but yelped as Trina ran up to him and grabbed his hand.

"I don't." She backed him into a wall. "But if you cause trouble. Yama might shut the fights down, and I want to win."  
There was only one way to get her off his back. "Yeah? No, me too." Hiro lied. "I'm actually un-retiring!" He slipped past her but she grabbed his hand again, later he'd admire her tenacity.  
"Sure, that's why you're here with no bot." She replied sarcastically. "My mistake."  
"No, your mistake was not shielding your memory unit properly." He pointed out.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Nothing. I mean, I'm the loser, right?" He parroted her words. "Who cares what I think?"  
The crowd cheered behind them, Trina raised an eyebrow and smirked.  
"Huh, you still have your bark." She teased.  
"Hey, I'm not rusty in everything." He glanced to the back corners/ "C'mon, I'll show you how to fix your error, let an old pro show your way around the ring."  
"Pfft, what makes you think I'm a rookie?" Trina let him go, internally he gave a sigh of relief.  
"Well, I saw your match with Gus." They began walking over, Hiro could've sworn a purple and black hooded figure with white hair poking from their hood was watching them go, but he shrugged it off. "How long have you been bot-fighting?"  
"Few weeks, maybe a month." She shrugged. "Lost track of time."  
 _Definitely a rookie, with an attitude._ Hiro mentally chuckled, he was no better when he started out.

* * *

"See?" Hiro pulled up a tablet, showing Trina the problem with her newly fixed bot. "Those numbers mean your power source is outputting a B field that's corrupting your stored data."  
"Huh." She grabbed the tablet. "Looks like you're right. Gotta beef up the shielding."  
"You could do that. Or, you could focus on the extra B field and use it." He suggested, pointing out how it could be used as a laser for the bot. He glanced over to the ring where Yama had just won against another fighter.

"Maybe you're not a total loser." Trina told him.

He could only smile back. "Thanks, I guess." Hiro cleared his throat. "How often are you able to make it to the fights? Do you have to worry about parental supervision?"  
"My father lets me do what I want." She shrugged. "My big sister sometimes comes to the matches and she wins a lot of money betting on bot-fights."  
"Ah, a gambler is she?" Hiro chuckled. "So it's just you, your dad, and your sister?"  
"Well there's a little brother, but he can be annoying." Trina joked. They both laughed.  
"Ah, little siblings, I have a little sister, she can be a pain." He meant no offense to Ari… but sometimes she poked her head through the garage one too many times.

"Little sister?" Trina raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, Ari, she's not my sister by blood, but she's family." Hiro explained. "You got a problem?"  
"Nah, my brother and sister were adopted too, I'm the only one related to our father." Trina shrugged.  
"Oh wow, sounds like the Fern kids." He joked. "They're three classmates I have who are siblings with no blood relation, David, Sara, and Mikan."  
"Hm, I've heard of them." Trina hummed, there was gleam in her eyes.  
"Cool." He felt his phone buzz, and nearly gasped as it was close to midnight!

Ari: Where r u?! I am this close to calling the team.

Hiro groaned. "And my sister's being a pain right now," he begrudgingly sent a text back.

Hiro: I'm on my way back. Chill.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night." Trina flashed him a grin that made him smile.  
"Sure, might as well watch you win." he chuckled. Hopefully the others wouldn't grind at him for that.

* * *

_The next day…_

He was wrong, so wrong.

At lunch, after telling them the info he found from fellow fighters on his way out. They all complained when he said he was going to have to go back. _Oh come on, I'm still not fighting. And Yama's bot fighting the bots in the robberies isn't proof enough_. Hiro thought to himself as Gogo and Fred claimed him to be a "face liar."

He ate his burrito in silence as the group gave him weird looks. He had enough and retreated to his lab to finish lunch. If he had brought Baymax to school, the robot might've claimed that chewing food and walking at the same time was hazardous.

Unfortunately he had to run into Ari when he entered his lab. His sister was fast asleep on his desk, he poked her and she yelped, jumping into the air.  
"Ari." He groaned. "Why are you napping on my desk?"  
"I took an extra hour on watch." She yawned. "And I wanna know how it went. Did you meet anyone new?"  
"No." he lied.  
"I can tell when you're lying at this point." Ari frowned, and he couldn't resist those ocean blue puppy eyes.

"Fine." Hiro huffed. "I met this girl named Trina-"  
"A girl?"  
"Shut up. She was nice, 'bit of a rookie and something." He just couldn't place that strange feeling.  
His sister gave him a funny smirk. "What?" He frowned.  
'And you give _me_ grief for my crush on Juniper." She teased. "You seem to be liking this bot-fighter you just met… hmmm?"  
"Oh shut up." He pushed her away. "Bot-fighting isn't illegal, betting on it is. And your crush is a thorn in our side whenever she and her mom bust out of jail."  
"It was one time." Ari held up a finger. "And I'm just joking, I mean you can't be in love with someone you just met."  
"You did."  
"Dude, not cool." Hiro grinned when seeing her flustered reaction.

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sienna Kline: The person next to my dorm is blasting Avril Lavinge and I am debating breaking down the walls and stuffing paint down their throat.

Rachel Rosemary: I'm gonna have to call my dad if you do that.

Sienna Kline: I was joking

Sara Ferns: "Sorry to hear love," -David

Gogo: Oof

Sienna Kline: Are headphones that expensive man?!

Mikan Ferns: Some are.

Sara Ferns: Yeah, if you want the good stuff

Rachel Rosemary: So what kind of music is dude playing?

Sienna Kline: MINA SAIKO, ARIGATO.

Gogo:

Sara Ferns:

Mikan Ferns: kawaii...

Sienna Kline: STOP BLASTING HELLO KITTY ON LOOP.

Rachel Rosemary: Yeah I don't blame you if you poison them. That's annoying.

* * *

Hiro felt great pride as he watched Trina's match, it was going better than last time since she took his advice. There was a moment in the match where her opponent thought he won, but then Trina's bot reformed, and laser blasted the other one down.

"Yes!" She cheered.  
"It worked!" Hiro pumped a fist in the air, he headed to the back corners, and Trina walked up to him.  
"Good call on the extra B field!" Trina playfully punched his shoulder.  
"Yeah, but making that perfectly symmetrical focusing coil out of spare parts was all you." He rubbed his shoulder.

"I'm all about spare parts." She took a seat and began checking the code on her computer.  
He picked up her bot. "Where'd you learn how to bot-build like that, anyway?"  
"Self-taught." Trina took her bot and fiddled with it. "I watch, I learn." She plugged it into the computer. "Don't let this go to your head, but I watched all your fights."  
Hiro blushed. "Yo-you did?"  
"You were good." She grinned. "Why'd you quit?"  
"I-I don't know." He looked down. "I'm over it now. Plus, my aunt wasn't a fan of bailing me out of jail."  
"Pfft." She snickered. "You were pretty bad escaping when the police showed up."  
"Hey!" Hiro crossed his arms.  
"All I'm saying is, if you like something and you're good at it, why deny yourself?" She held up her controller, and he looked up at her. "We both know you wanna."

Hiro stared at the controller, he couldn't deny the itch he's had since returning to the ring. The desire to crush the opponent, the money, the power. He shook his head, thinking of how worried Ari had been!  
"My sister would kill me." he sighed.  
Trina softened her gaze. "I see, y'know a good sister would be accepting of what makes you happy. Like how my siblings are, she must be a stick-in-the-mud."  
"No well..." Hiro couldn't help but think about how obnoxious her teasing was. "A little. She's been cranky due to staying up to prevent the cafe from getting robbed. So, I can't blame her."  
"Paranoid much?" Trina hummed.  
"Yeah." They talked for a while, Hiro kept a close eye on the match as he conversed with Trina. While she didn't bring up the topic of bot-fighting again, it did feel like a relief to speak with someone so relatable. He was getting sick of his sister and their friend's pestering, so it was a nice change of pace.

He felt a heavy feeling in his heart as he departed for home, but he knew that it would only last until he came back again.

The heavy feeling didn't go away as he headed upstairs to his room, he walked by his passed out sister on the counter, and stared at Baymax's charger when he reached the top. He opened the drawer he placed Megabot in the other day, behind him, the robot's charger beeped. As Hiro turned around, he bumped into Baymax's soft belly, and quickly pocketed Megabot. "Oh. H-Hi Baymax."  
" _Hello, Hiro. You are back late._ " Baymax stared down at him.

"Yeah I mean-I guess I lost track of time." He lied, then glanced outside. _Oh wow it's practically morning, thank god I didn't run into Aunt Cass on my way upstairs then._  
" _Did you find proof that Yama is responsible for the crimes?_ "  
"Well, no. I'm gonna have to head back. Again."  
Baymax blinked at him. "Anyway, time for bed." He walked to his bed, hoping to get a few hours of rest, at least it was a weekend.

* * *

Ari woke up to a scream. "Ari!" she looked up and saw Cass pulling her into a hug. "Are you okay?!"  
"Wh-what's going on?" She sleepily yawned. Cass lifted her up, and she saw what the scream was for.

The cafe was a mess, tables were knocked over, poor Mochi was tied up, and the register was gone.  
"Oh no!" Ari gasped. "We got robbed! I'm so sorry!" She burst into tears as she untied Mochi.  
"It's not your fault sweetie." Cass frowned. "Guess we weren't lucky in the robberies.  
"Y-yeah, but I was keeping watch!" She huffed. "To the point I passed myself out..." The truth was that she stayed a few extra hours when Hiro left at night, and the toll paid it's cost.

"I gotta tell Hiro this." She muttered. _He needs to find out who's causing these robberies fast._

* * *

When she got to SFIT with the bad news, Ari saw Honey Lemon and Wasabi also in Hiro's lab, inspecting a small robot.

"I found a string of code that allows an external remote overdrive." She heard Hiro say.  
"Yama must be using his bot to infect the others when they're fighting." Honey Lemon added.  
"He robbed the cafe." Ari spoke up, they turned to her and gasped.  
"No! Say it isn't so!" Wasabi dramatically exclaimed. "nNot the Lucky Cat!"  
"Yes." she yawned. "I tried so hard… but in the end, it didn't even matter."

"Aww don't say that." Hiro patted her shoulder. "We just need to find Yama's executable file, and we've got him."  
"And how are we gonna do that?" Wasabi questioned, he was scraping some goop off of his boot.  
"Easy." Hiro held out Megabot. "I'll keep Yama busy by fighting him while you guys break into his office.  
"What?!" Ari gasped.  
"Fighting him?!" Honey Lemon also gasped.  
"What happened to just watching?" Wasabi frowned.  
"Guys, don't worry, I've got this." He was about to exit but Ari stopped him.  
"Hiro, I can't let you go back into the fight." She frowned, "we can just go in the morning or send out a distraction, or something not involving going back to an illegal-for-some-reason world!"  
"You really are a stick-in-the-mud." He frowned. "I've got this."  
"Hiro-"

_Slam!_

The door was slammed shut in front of her, Wasabi and Honey Lemon exchanged concerned glances.

 _Oh no… what do I do?_ Ari frowned, she was seeing her brother go down a dark path. _He didn't even react much when I told him what happened to the cafe._

_I need help, and fast._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes trouble!
> 
> And by trouble I mean Trina, great villain, but oh boy... you'll see
> 
> And yeah, the Lucky Cat was not safe from the robot robberies. I wonder if SOMEone had something to do with that. 
> 
> Sorry n.n;
> 
> Hopefully Hiro doesn't do anything dumb next chapter... right?
> 
> hehehe
> 
> QOTW: Next chapter the teen siblings have a bit of an argument about the bot-fighting, so thoughts on this whole situation?


	51. Chapter 50: (The Bot-Fighter) Good Sisters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids (aren't) alright   
> Also Mikan why

Ari tapped her leg nervously as the motorcycle sped through the city. Then it stopped, she got off. "Thanks again Gogo." Ari told her as she took off her helmet.  
"No problem kiddo." The engineer shrugged. "But why'd you ask me to bring me here?" Gogo gestured to the San Fransokyo prison. "Doesn't Hiro or Mikan take you? I don't mind. But I'm skeptical."  
"Calm down." She waved it off. "I just want to ask a person for advice, because Hiro is starting to worry me!"  
"I don't blame you."  
"Seriously, he meets this girl, and all of a sudden he's like 'I'm gonna go bot-fighting woo!'" Ari rambled. "I am freaking out here!"  
Gogo winced at her reaction. "So, do you need me to pick you up later?"  
"Nah I'll just take the bus."  
"If you're sure, don't stay too long Ari." She put her helmet on, got back on her motorcycle, and left. Ari just stared at the building with a heavy heart as she went in.

* * *

"So I have this problem."  
"A problem?"  
"With my brother." Ari chuckled nervously. "Though sorry for starting off like that. Hi, great to see you again Barb." She gave an awkward wave.  
The older woman waved back. "It's always nice whenever you visit, even if most of the time it's you venting your problems."  
"I can't help it." She groaned. "You listening makes me feel a lot better." And she didn't have a whole lot of options, her friends were worried themselves, the Fern kids would just tell her to not get involved, and she didn't want to know _Karmi's_ response if she told her… So she had no other options but to vaguely question Juniper's mom for advice. "You're welcome." Barb smiled at her. "Now what's this problem with your brother?"  
Ari exhaled. "He's been making pretty bad choices." She rubbed her arm. "And I think he's gonna do something really bad tonight."  
"Bad?" There was a grave look on Barb's face.

"Jeez I'm making it sound like he's gonna murder someone, but something morally questionable." Ari huffed. "And I don't know what to do. He won't listen to me, and there isn't a forceful bone in my body." She buried her head into her arms. "I don't know what to do."  
"Do you know why he's doing this bad thing?" The woman raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, but he's been distracted, because of this girl." Ari guestured. "I think she's been encouraging him to… make bad choices."  
Barb had a look of realization. "Ohhhh, I see. Well I don't know what to tell you sweetie. People can make bad choices for the sake of love."  
"He just met this girl." Ari groaned. "It's not love, but she's a bad influence. I have this feeling." She gestured with her hands. "And I need advice, please?"  
"Hmm." She crossed her arms. "You two live with your aunt, correct? Perhaps you should tell her what's going on."  
"Oh." Ari facepalmed. "Should've thought of that before." _And I can just add a few white lies to not reveal the real reason why Hiro went, better in the long run._

"From my own experience, sometimes it's better to have an adult to assist in the situation." Barb explained. "Otherwise it could get ugly."  
"From your own experience?" Ari raised an eyebrow, "like…?"  
Barb sighed. "Long story, it was back in my college days, that's personal information."  
"Awww." She pouted, her curiosity wanting more details. "But, thanks for the help." Ari got up from the chair. "I hope it works."  
"And I hope things work well with your brother." She replied. "From what you've mentioned. He sounds like a good person."  
 _You might not say that if you found out about his day job._ Ari thought.

* * *

She felt the heavy feeling again when Hiro left for the ring, this time bringing Megabot. "I'll promise to be careful," he said as he left, and Ari felt like he dropped a stone in her stomach when he was gone.

_Okay Ari._ She thought as she walked to Cass's room. _You're doing this for his own good._ She had heard enough bot-fighting stories the last few days to know that Hiro didn't need this in his life.  
"Aunt Cass?" She poked her head through the door. Cass had yet to go to sleep, she was reading a small book while Mochi was curled at her side.  
"Hmm?" Cass looked up. "You okay Ari? Did you have another bad dream?"  
"I don't get those as much anymore." She glanced away. "I have bad news."  
"Bad news?" Cass frowned.  
"It's about Hiro..." She took a step forward. "He-"  
"Is he hurt?" Concern flashed in her aunt's green eyes. "Did something bad happen?"  
"He… he..." She struggled to get it out of her throat. "Went bot-fighting!"

Mochi's ears pointed upwards, his fur fluffed up at the words. Cass had a similar reaction.

"He did what?"  
"I tried to stop him, I did!" Tears poured down her cheeks. "But he wouldn't listen plus there was this peer pressure thing and I'm scared something bad's gonna happen and-"  
"Shhhhh." Cass wiped her tears. "You did nothing wrong Ari. But I'm going to have some choice words with your brother when he gets home or I have to pick him up at the station."  
"Is he in trouble?" Ari flicked the rest of her tears away.  
"Yes." Cass noticed her downtrodden look. "It's not your fault, but there's a reason bot-fighting is illegal."  
"Because so many fights happened because of bets and stealing spare parts so people made it illegal?"

"Yes, how did you find that out?"  
"Internet." Ari shrugged. "I got tired of not knowing what it was."

* * *

_Meanwhile with Hiro…_

"You. You're blacklisted. Yama's orders." When he walked it with his hood down the ref was already grilling him.  
"I am?" Hiro faked shock, Megabot in his grip. "I had no idea." He sighed as the ref snapped her fingers and two guards tried pulling him away. "Too bad. A rematch between me and Yama, that would draw a big crowd."  
"A rematch would be good for business." She hummed, a whistle from her and guards dropped him. "Fine. Pony up your buy-in. Stay out of trouble."

"Deal." He handed a wad of cash on the plate she offered.  
"Welcome back, Zero." The ref smirked. "Your first match starts." And pointed to his future opponent.

"Hamada, you coming or what?" Trina held up her bot.

He replied with a grin. "I won't go easy on you, Trina." They took their seats.  
"You really think you're gonna win with that ancient relic of a bot?" Trina moved her bot, the wormlike bot curled around Megabot and crawled back to it's spot. "That's adorable."  
He just replied with a shrug, and stretched his bot. The gong rang, the match was on. Hiro felt a fire coarse through his blood, he had never felt so alive in months!

But as their bots leapt at each other-

"San Fransokyo PD! Nobody move!" The police burst through the door!

Hiro pled. "Trina, we gotta get-" but the bot-fighter and many others had already escaped. He then felt an arm grab his jacket sleeve and pull him out the window. He yelped and shut his eyes as he felt his mysterious rescuer save him from arrest.

"Calm down dude." He recognized that voice, and looked up to see a familiar snow-haired girl staring back at him with her sharp green eyes. "We're in the clear."  
"Mikan?"

"Yep it's me, here to rescue you from the fuzz." She grinned. "Haven't seen you in awhile Hiro."  
She let him go and he dropped onto the ground. "What are you doing here?" Hiro observed their surroundings. They were hiding behind a dumpster as cops tried rounding unlucky bot-fighters, he always fell into that group.  
"Well, I sometimes bet on bot-fighting." Mikan confessed, his eyes widened as she continued. "It's pretty easy money. My sister fights, I bet, we're rolling in dough!"  
"Your sister?" He raised an eyebrow. "Sara's here?" _Are all of the Fern kids living a double life under my nose?_

"Nah, my sister from my dad's side."  
"Oh, did she escape?"  
Mikan laughed. "She always does!" She pulled out a wad of cash from her pockets. "So, I heard you rejoined the fights. What changed your mind?"  
"I-I uh..." He stuttered. "Got bored?" It felt like nails on a chalkboard trying to lie to the observant Mikan.  
She didn't react, but raised an eyebrow. "Fair enough. Word of warning, I don't think your sister would approve of your new hobby." She shrugged.  
"I don't care what Ari thinks." _She knows I'm doing this for the greater good. So why is she freaking out like the others?_

Mikan whistled at his reaction. "Wow. There's that teenage rebellion I know and love, thought you lost it when you went to nerd school."  
"You go to SFIT too." Hiro pointed out.

"True." She handed him the wad of cash. "Here, buy yourself a treat."  
He questioned it, but wasn't going to deny free money. "Thanks, and thank you for saving me."  
"You're welcome," Mikan hummed, "And hey, if your friends and sister give you grief, you can talk to me. Maybe I could introduce you to my sister too."  
Hiro chuckled. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind, is she the same age as you?"  
"Nah, she's around your age, a little older though." Mikan gestured. "Do you want me to walk you home?"  
"No thanks, I'm good."  
"Suit yourself." Mikan crawled out of their hiding spot. "And by the way, I missed seeing your fights."

* * *

Hiro waited for a few minutes before leaving. _Good thing I'm not getting another bot-fighting charge._ He thought to himself, it was always good nights when he got away with it, and he could spend his winnings on all the candy and video games in the world. Trina did have a point, why did he quit in the first place? He never felt so ali-

" _When are you going to start using that big brain of yours?_ "

He stopped, Tadashi's words echoing in his mind. _What am I thinking?!_ Hiro shook his head. _I gave up for a reason. It's illegal, it's dangerous, people have been seriously injured and maybe died over these fights. I gave up that life to learn at SFIT, and build a career to help people like Tadashi wanted._

_So why am I feeling so conflicted?_

He kept mentally battling himself as he got to the cafe. _The sooner we bust Yama, the sooner things get better._ Hiro opened the cafe door and to his surprise, the lights were on.

"Hiro." He yelped and turned to the counter. "Care to tell me where you've been all night?" His aunt's green eyes were narrowed.  
"I was uh..." He glanced away. "Hanging with Ari?" A hand gripped his shoulder.  
"Try again buddy." That was his sister, she carried the same angry look Cass had.  
"Um, what's going on?" Hiro raised an eyebrow. _Why were they acting so weird?_ Then it hit him, he turned to Ari. "You didn't-"  
"Yep." She nodded.

Cass stepped away from the counter. "Ari told me that you've been sneaking off who-knows-where to go bot-fighting!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were past this!"

"No I didn't!" Hiro attempted to lie, but Cass noticed the wad of cash in his pocket.  
"Then explain where you got the money from?" She frowned. "Where else but from bot-fighting!?"

"It was from Mik-"

"Hiro!" But his aunt was too angry to hear the truth.  
"I-I..." He could only feel guilt. _I was past this… but it was supposed to be one time._

"You were starting to scare me, I just don't want you to get hurt." Ari added, he felt his blood boil at her words.

"You snitch!" He turned to her. "I can't believe you told Aunt Cass!"  
"Well it's not my fault you decided to go back to a criminal lifestyle!" Ari bristled with anger. "what is your problem?!"  
"Oh so when I do something _I'm_ the criminal?" Hiro was getting _sick_ of her hypocrisy. "When you constantly sneak out and write letters to your _little crush_ , who's a supervillain behind bars!"  
"Wait, what?" Cass raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between their bantering.  
"Don't you dare bring up Juniper! She's different!" Ari screeched, anger and betrayal flaring in her blue eyes.  
"Really? At least I don't constantly swing around lightning that could _kill someone_ and treat it like a show!" Hiro countered. "And you know why I was doing this, I trusted you!"  
"Well you broke your word!" Ari hissed. "Hiro, I only told Aunt Cass because I was worried about you! You're my brother and Ii-"  
But in his anger, in his _rage,_ Hiro said what he would forever regret.  
"The only reason you're even here is because I took PITY on you!" He cut her off. "You! The naive amnesiatic girl who's always butting into other people's business! If it weren't for me you'd be on the road!"  
She flinched, but was too stubborn to back down. "Hiro I worry about you! You didn't have to do this!"  
"Don't even pretend to act like Tadashi! You're not him and you will never be like my brother! At least he was related to me!" He then realized when he said, Hiro gasped and covered his mouth. "Ari-"  
But it was too late for apologies, Ari had a _heartbroken_ look on her face, she sniffled, her nose scrunched, and she bolted out the door.

"Hiro." He turned to Cass, there was no emotion on her face. "You're grounded, maybe some time alone will help you remember what's important."

He sighed, dejectedly. "Yes Aunt Cass…"

* * *

Baymax was waiting for him when he got upstairs. "Hi buddy..." He collapsed into his bed.

The robot blinked at him. " _Hiro. I am concerned about your recent behavior._ "

"I know, I know..." He sniffled. "I hurt Ari, I said the things she feared the most. I'm a terrible big brother."

Hiro stiffened when he felt Baymax's warm vinyl arms scoop him up. "I don't deserve your hugs Baymax, I'm a horrible person."  
He just blinked at him. " _You are my patient, I would like to help_."  
Hiro just dissolved into sobs as the robot held him tight. " _There there, you are going to be alright._ "

* * *

Ari wasn't doing much better. She had stopped sobbing, and was just twirling around puddle water as her throat burned.

A knock interrupted her bending and she dropped the puddle. "Ari?" It was Cass, her aunt then opened the garage door. She didn't react as Cass took a seat next to her. "You alright sweetie?"  
"Why…" Ari's voice sounded hoarse. "Why are you checking up on me? I don't..."  
Cass stared at her quizzically. "Don't what?"  
"Deserve it." She buried her face into her arms. "I just make things worse, I always do!"

"Ari..." She felt a hand placed on her shoulder, and then pulled her into a soft, welcoming hug. The tears poured down her cheeks. "It's not your fault sweetie, I'm proud of how much you care about Hiro." Cass told her.  
"B-but he's right." Ari sniffled. "I'm not really his sister, I'm just a replacement."  
"Don't say that, he didn't mean it. Trust me, Hiro will apologize for what he said."  
"Aunt Cass?"  
"Yes." she tilted her head. "Do you want me to get you a glass of milk? Cookies?"  
"No, but..." Ari hugged her chest. "If Tadashi was still here… would you still want me in the family?" She honestly didn't think they would, she was just there to fill the void. Even if nobody said it aloud, Ari knew that's what the others thought of her. She was just there to make them feel better, if Tadashi was still around, they wouldn't want to see her at all.

"Tadashi would've been the first to accept you," She whipped her head around at the words.  
"What?" Ari scrunched her nose. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."  
Cass shook her head. "No, he sometimes told me he wanted a little sister. Not that Hiro was too much of a handful, but Tadashi just wanted one. And you know what Ari?"  
"Mhmm?"  
"He would've loved you."

She just continued to hug Cass, sobbing into her chest for what felt like hours.

Eventually, her tears dried up, and Ari was back to twirling around puddle water. "Still not used to doing this."  
Cass snickered. "Ari, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Who's Juniper?" And then she started choking on air.  
"I um-she's..." A blush grew on her face. "Someone I know?"  
"Hmmm." Cass raised an eyebrow. "You like this girl, don't you?"  
"Yeah well two problems with that." Ari held up two fingers. "One, she's kind of in prison for uh… stuff-not murder before you go all overprotective parent on me! And two, I confessed once and got friend-zoned."  
"Oh." Her aunt frowned. "Is she the girl who you're pen-pals with?"  
"...Maybe? It's completely safe!"  
"And do you go visit her? Is that what Mikan takes you to do instead of shopping?"  
"Yes…?" Ari squeaked. "Please don't be mad."  
Cass narrowed her eyes. "I'm gonna admit I'm a little disappointed you kept this from me and I'm going to have to ground you-"  
"Nooooo." She groaned.  
"But, if you promise to tell me next time you visit your friend. You won't get in any more trouble," Cass held up her pinkie. "Promise?"  
"Pinkie-promise." Ari returned the gesture. "Is the cookie offer still standing? I'm hungry."  
"Of course Ari." Cass ruffled her hair. "Always."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: So another Noodle Burger got robbed today

TheLittleMermaid: Is it the one you work at?

Sara Ferns: No it's one my manager also… manages at

Sara Ferns: He was there and got scared half to death, lol

Wasabi: Why is that funny?

Sara Ferns: He yelled at me when the Noodle Burger I work at got robbed, and blamed me

Mikan Ferns: Deserved the jumpscare tbh then

Wasabi: Wow, rude

Sara Ferns: Ikr?!

TheLittleMermaid: Did someone get a video of it?

Sara Ferns: Sure did! Sent!

TheLittleMermaid: XD, that makes me feel better

Mikan Ferns: Why?

Sara Ferns: Aw, why are you sad?

Wasabi: Long story, tell you when I'm at school.

* * *

For the entire morning and half of lunch, Hiro was pretty quiet. He couldn't bring himself to talk to Ari, who had spent the night in Cass's room to avoid him. Not that he'd blame her he would avoid himself too.

The rabble of the food court felt numb to him, all he could think about were the awful things his lips had uttered. He decided to toss his half-eaten lunch into the trash, he wasn't that hungry anyways.

At another table, he saw Gogo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. The four pairs of eyes who noticed him getting up, tossing his food, and returning back to the table without a single word.

" _I'm starting to get really worried._ " He heard Fred whisper to Wasabi, who nodded. Hiro pretended he didn't hear that.

"Hiro?" Honey Lemon poked his shoulder. "Are you doing okay?"  
"Mmh." He groaned, burying his face into his arms. The chemist got the gesture and left him alone, but Hiro imagned the intense worry she always carried for her friends, he didn't deserve that.

Without a word, he got up from the table. The group glanced with caution as he began to exit the food court, and ignored the passing glances from students as he silently exited. Hiro didn't stop walking until he was a few footsteps away from a hall.

The Tadashi Hamada Hall, named in honor of his beloved brother. And the one person he just wanted to talk to but he couldn't.

"I..." He rasped. "I really messed up big brother." Tears threatened to pour down his cheeks. "Sometimes I wish you were here… instead of me, maybe you'd know how to fix things now."

Black flats rustling through the grass caught his attention, he didn't turn his head. But a tuft of dark brown hair in the corner of his eye and familiar presence told him who followed.  
"What do you want, Karmi?" He croaked.

She sat next to him, her reddish brown eyes held the faint hint of anger. "Ari told me what you did, what you said, and how it made her feel." Her voice held back the rage bubbling in her throat. "You really broke her heart."  
"I know, and it broke mine knowing that."  
"Well, I didn't come out this way to lecture you." Karmi's hand went to his shoulder. "You don't really feel that way, do you?"  
"About?" Hiro frowned.

"Not being here." Was that concern in her tone?

He turned away. "Didn't think you'd care."  
"Well you've been pleasant for the past few days so I'll let that comment slide." Karmi huffed. "I'm just checking on you for your sister's sake, even if you don't deserve it."  
"Oh really?" He doubted that.  
"Yuh-huh." She glanced away. "But you shouldn't say stuff like that."  
"I know." Hiro bowed his head down.  
"I'd miss you..." Did he hear that correctly?"  
"What was that?" He turned to Karmi, who had turned a faint shade of red embarrassment.  
"You heard what I said." She hid under her sweater. "I'm not repeating it."

Hiro just laughed. "Thanks Karmi."  
"You're welcome, I guess."

The two spent the rest of lunch sitting by the hall in silence, listening to the wind rustle, but it felt like eternal bliss to Hiro.

* * *

_Later that night…_

"Aunt Cass is usually asleep by now."  
" _Her current, melatonin levels are consistent with wakefulness._ " Hiro was pacing back and forth in his room, Baymax watching him like a hawk. He glanced over to the picture of him and Tadashi on his desk and picked it up.  
"Do you think Tadashi would understand why I'm doing this?" Hiro questioned, he felt like nobody did. Not even his friends who were reluctant to let him go again, it upsetted him.

The robot blinked. " _I am uncertain. However, Tadashi has made one reference to bot-fighting in my archives._ " He turned around, and saw his brother on the screen.

Hiro walked up to the screen. " _I'm worried about Hiro, Baymax. He's so smart, but he's wasting his talents bot-fighting._ "

His eyes widened as the video went on. " _You know, I don't know what I can do to help him._ " Tadashi sighed. " _Well, anyway, I guess I just have to remember that Hiro's a good kid. And in the end, he'll do what's right._ "

Hiro felt his eyes watering as the video ended. " _I still do not understand bot-fighting._ " He looked up at Baymax. " _But Tadashi was right. Hiro, you are a good kid._ "

He smiled up at the robot, who said just what he needed. " _Aunt Cass is now asleep, Ari is also asleep._ "  
"Right." Hiro nodded, preparing to head down the stairs. "I'll see you later buddy."

He went downstairs and in the living room was Cass, Ari, and Mochi fast asleep on the couch. A Kentucky Kaiju movie was playing on screen. The bowl of popcorn was empty, and several cartons of mint-chocolate chip ice cream, courtesy of his sad little sister. Hiro paused the movie and gently lifted up the calico who was sleeping on top of Megabot. He then placed the remote as a decoy, he turned to his aunt and Ari, and gently placed a blanket over them.

"M' sorry Ari, I never wanted to make you cry." He softly whispered to his sister as he tucked her in. "I promise that after this is over. I'm gonna make sure you never get hurt again." As silent as a mouse, he softly kissed her cheek goodnight. And as he crept away, a pair of blue eyes stared at him.

* * *

Superhero Squad chat:

Captain Cutie: I'm almost at the fights

Chem Girl: I really wish you wouldn't do this : (

Captain Cutie: But it's for the greater good, sorry HL

Speed Queen: "Greater good" my neck

Chop Chop: Don't jinx it

Flame Jumper: Maybe next time you're a spy, you can wear the mustache I got you!

Captain Cutie: Thanks..

Flame Jumper: You're welcome!

Captain Cutie: I was being sarcastic

Chop Chop: Might wanna add a /s at the end there buddy

Captain Cutie: Thanks! /s

Speed Queen: Heh

Chop Chop: That is just cold

* * *

"Hamada." He looked up, seeing Trina walking up to him as he fiddled with Megabot. "I wasn't sure you'd be back after the cops showed up." She held her bot in her hands.  
"Well I'm here, guess I just wanted to see this through." He glanced away.

Trina took her position. "How inspiring, defeating you is gonna be a real honor."  
The gong rang and the fight began. He had to admit, Trina put up a good fight, but luckily after coming up with a clever solution, the match was easy as pie.

"What? A counter current?" She exclaimed when her bot went down.  
"I had to neutralize your new weapon somehow." He explained.  
She dropped her controller. "You let yourself get wrapped up so you could damage my focusing coil."

"Yeah." Hiro walked up to her. "Things aren't always as they seem."

Trina sighed. "At least I was beaten by the best." She playfully punched him on the shoulder, he chuckled. Then as he attempted a playful punch back, Trina gave him a peck on the cheek. He gasped, his face turning bright red. "Good luck with the rest of your bracket." And she walked away before he could respond.

"Huh." Hiro rubbed his cheek. _I did not expect that._ Hetried to calm the fast paced beating of his heart and the fluttering in his chest. Hiro shook it off, he had to focus.

* * *

Meanwhile as he mowed through the competition, the others awaited outside for the signal, dawning their superhero suits in case things went south.

"What's taking so long?" Fred glanced back and forth.  
"I'm sure it'll be soon Freddie." Honey Lemon patted his shoulder. "Be patient."  
"Yeah, but the sooner we finish, the better." Wasabi commented.

Gogo's phone chimed with the signal.  
Hiro: Coast Clear

"Let's go." She pocketed the phone and prepared to skate into Yama's room, the group followed her.  
"Spy time!" Fred exclaimed, as they snuck into the ring, the crowd paid no attention to them. They were too busy focused on the rematch between Hiro and Yama, the group cringed as they overheard the sounds of scraping metal and the shouts of various bot-fighters.

Gogo opened the sliding door, they began to investigate. "If I was a super-secret hidden tool for a crime wave, where would I be?" Fred questioned, glancing around the room.

"Oh, I don't know, in a biometric safe under the desk?" Gogo sarcastically replied.  
He laughed. "That's way too obvious Gogo." But he turned to her and saw a biometric safe, _under the desk._ "Oh, Yama. I expected so much more."  
"We need Yama's fingerprints." Honey Lemon pointed out, seeing that was the key to open the safe.

"That would be great, but he's not here." Wasabi huffed.  
"Or we could get a sample from something he's touched."  
"That works too."  
"Hm." Gogo glanced at the trash can, she picked up a soda can, grabbed a piece of tape, and grabbed a sample.

Fred hummed spy music as she placed the sample onto the key, and it opened. "Ow!" The door hit him on the nose. Inside was a flash drive, and also a pair of red shoes for some reason.

"That has to be it, right?" Honey Lemon questioned as Gogo picked up the flash drive.  
"Hm, one way to find out."

She plugged it into the computer, the screen turned on.

They all screamed and bristled upon seeing… that

"I want to look away, but I can't!" Honey Lemon's honey-blonde hair was fluffed up at the sheer horror of what they were watching.

Yama samba dancing.

They'd need a gallon of brain bleach for that. Or two. Or five. Or extensive therapy.  
Gogo immediately yanked the flash drive out and shoved it back into the safe. "Well, I'm not looking at him the same way ever again."  
"Agreed." They all nodded.

"The only good thing to come out of that was that it's evidence, at the very least." Fred pointed out.

"But it's evidence that doesn't connect him to the robberies." Wasabi gasped.

"Hiro's not gonna like this." Honey Lemon shook her head.

They awaited with silence as Gogo sent Hiro a text to come outside. The teen genius had an eager smile on his face when he saw them.

"What's up guys? Did you get the proof?" Oh was he in for a surprise.

"Actually, no." Honey Lemon spoke first. "But, we did just see a really... interesting video… that clears him."  
"And let me just say it's not something you can ever unsee." Wasabi added. The look of trauma on his face.  
"Okay?" Hiro raised an eyebrow. No way in hel- _heck_ were they ever going to describe the contents of that video.  
"Yama's class was at the exact same time as the robberies." Fred explained.  
Gogo nodded. "and gives him an alibi. And me nightmares."  
Hiro just looked even more confused. "I don't even want to know."  
"Good. Let's keep it that way." Wasabi flashed him a thumbs up. "This means he's innocent!"  
"Never thought I'd hear 'Yama' and 'innocent' in the same sentence." Fred hummed. "Considering what he did to Ari."  
They all nodded in agreement. But the teen genius was frowning. "Does that mean my spy mission was in vain? But losing to Yama is the only thing all the hijacked bots have in common."

It can't be all for nothing, the heartbreak, the temptations, just to prove the innocence of the scariest bot-fighter in Good Luck Alley?

"Sorry, Hiro. The evidence says it's something else." Honey Lemon's words did nothing to comfort the bitter feeling in his chest.

"Like who? The only other possible connection is-"

He paused, then his eyes widened.

" _You've fought every night this week, and you haven't made it past the first round once!"_

"Unless the bots got infected in the first round." He had been turning a blind eye to her hacking away on her computer, and brushed it off as she tweaked her bot.

Not anymore. "Guys, I have to tell you something."

* * *

He felt his heart grow cold as he walked into the room. Trina turned around, a smirk on her face. "Hamada. Gotta say, that fight with Yama was a thing of beauty."

Hiro flashed her a deadpan look, the warmth he once showed to her gone. "What?"

"I know about the bots, Trina." He kept a steady voice. "I know it's you."  
She didn't turn to him, continuing to work on her bot as if he didn't spill the beans. "So, the boy genius finally figured me out."

"Why are you doing this?" He walked up to her, as Trina clicked her phone. Hiro just couldn't understand. "We had a connection, and you _robbed_ my aunt's place of business!"  
"To be honest, that was my sister's idea." She shrugged. "She just relayed a bit of info about your sister's guard plans. In her defence she protested, but the more you and Ari grew distant, the more you and I grew close."  
His eyes narrowed. "Mikan." He snarled. _She didn't save me just to be nice. She just did that to plant evidence. I always thought Ari's prison visits were skeptical, turns out I should've been distrustful of her "driving buddy" this whole time._

"Shoot. She's gonna get ticked knowing I'm the one who ratted her out." Trina grumbled. His sudden realization of the deceitful snow-haired girl aside, Hiro was more angry at the homewrecker in front of him.

"What is wrong with you?!" He felt anger coursed through him. "You think it's funny pinning me and Ari against each other like that?"  
Trina didn't comment on that. "Can't say. But the robberies are lucrative, and fun. I thought you of all people would understand."  
"And I thought you of all people would understand how important family is to me."  
She shrugged. "Family can weigh you down, Mikan's an idiot for attaching herself to those softhearted weaklings called David and Sara. At least David's bloodline connections make him more valuable than the blonde deadweight."

Hiro growled at her insults to the kind siblings. _I definitely don't want to meet your sister now "Mika."_ But a small part of him tried reaching out to Trina. "Look, I do understand. My brother got me out of bot-fighting, and into SFIT." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're smart Trina, you could turn your life around too."

She nudged him away, and he felt his heart _crack_ at that moment. "People like us never really turn around, Hamada. We just pretend to."

"That's not true!" Hiro argued. He had changed from the arrogant teen genius he once was before attending SFIT.

"Isn't it? I saw you earlier." She turned to him. "You still love bot-fighting as much as I do." As much as he could protest, Trina was right. It was like an addiction, many times he had always been tempted to go back when work on the microbots got too hard. But luckily, he had a supportive brother and friends to help him out. "It's not worth it."

Unfortunately, Trina and her big sister seem to badly influence the other. "Stop holding yourself back!"

"That's it." Trina whipped her head to see the rest of the Big Hero 6 team (minus Baymax) surrounding her. "We're taking her in." Gogo had her disks armed and she wasn't afraid to use 'em.

"It's so cute that you think you can." Trina flashed a smirk, clicking a button on her phone.

All the bot-fighter's bots powered up, and began merging. Even Megabot wiggled out of Hiro's grasp to join the combined bot.

They all gasped, except Fred who continued to hum spy music until Gogo hit his shoulder. "Ow!"

The giant robot made out of little bots felt straight out of those _Power Ranger_ shows Hiro watched when he was younger, except this time the Megazord was being controlled by a crime wave mastermind.

"Uh oh." They all ducked out of the way of it's laser, but Hiro noticed someone running through the exit door. "Huh?"

"Go! We got this!" Gogo told him, he nodded and ran after Trina.

But as soon as he ran outside, a pair of legs tripped him up.

Her laugh mocked him. "Can't believe you fell for that Hamada."  
Hiro responded back with a leg sweep. "Did you even feel anything for me?!" His mind went back to the peck on the cheek.

"Oh, get over it. Seriously, is being gullible over love a family trait of yours?" Trina sneered. "It's cute that you think you had a chance."  
Nothing felt so hurtful before, he felt the smallest of tears blur his vision.  
"That's it!" A familiar voice cried out, and a blur tackled Trina even further into the ground, Hiro gasped. "I will not let you insult my brother even more!"  
"Ari...?" _You followed me? Even after what I said?_

Trina threw her off quickly. "Get off of me, freak!"

"Woah!" Ari stumbled, Hiro helped her to her feet.  
"You do not get to insult my sister like that." He narrowed his eyes. Hiro looked down at his sister. "I-"  
"I know." She sighed. "Not now."  
"Alright."

"Aww, it's cute seeing your disgusting sibling bond." Trina growled. "What are you gonna do? Throw water at me?"

Ari, water bottle in hand, glared with blazing anger at the bot-fighter. And she bended the contents at Trina so hard she fell to the ground. "Yes." She huffed. "That's what you get!"  
Hiro snickered, then high-fived her. "Nice one!"  
They were cut off by Wasabi screaming. "We don't got this! We don't! We really don't!" Accompanied by the sound of whirring saws and Fred yelling "Everything hurts!"  
That distraction was enough for Trina to slip away, Hiro clenched his teeth. "Stay here." He told Ari, and ran inside.

He ran in just in time to push Wasabi out of a laser's path, as he tumbled to the ground Hiro saw the piece of the giant bot that the team managed to slice off. An idea formed in his head. _That's it!_

"Guys, hold it off! I have an idea!" He grabbed the piece and ran off.  
"Got it!"  
"Okay!" Gogo and Honey Lemon chorused as Fred was tossed into a pile of debris.  
"Please hurry." Wasabi whimpered upon seeing the giant bot looming over him with saws at the ready.

Hiro went to the computer, plugging in the piece and typing away. "If I can rewrite Trina's code in this bot, then transfer it to mine, I can take back control."

The others gasp as they're knocked into the ground and a laser aimed at them. Just as Megabot regains control and spins out of the grasp of a robotic limb.

"Is that-?" Wasabi gasped.  
"It is!" Honey Lemon was cheering.

The giant bot turned its attention to Megabot, who dodged the blows with ease. Megabot knocked one of the legs over and climbed into the bot's back, Hiro concentrated as he commanded his bot to tear down the giant one from the inside. The little robot snickering as it dismantled parts inside, the giant bot fizzled as Megabot burst out of it's head. Fred chuckled as it went down, only for it to land on him. "Great work, Hiro! But for real though… ow!"

He got a little bow from Megabot in response.

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Ariel: Can someone ask Hiro to stop apologizing plz.

Captain Cutie: SORRY

Ariel: *sigh*

Speed Queen: Did you just type your sigh in the chat

Ariel: YES

Chem Girl: We're all in the car we can just talk out loud

Flame Jumper: Except Wasabi, bc he's driving

Speed Queen: Don't you mean texting?

Flame Jumper: Right.

Ariel: Talking hurts my throat

Captain Cutie: Sorry

Ariel: Dude knock it off!

* * *

"Guys, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." This time Hiro wasn't apologising in Wasabi's car, he was apologizing in his room. Their superhero gear was off, and to the side, Ari was watching from the other bed like a hawk. Baymax was out of his charger and was staring as well. "I got so carried away with the bot-fighting, I didn't notice what Trina was doing."  
"Oh Hiro..." Honey Lemon frowned. "Don't beat yourself up."  
"Aah! She disguised herself in a fake mustache of fake friendship." Fred pouted as he held an ice pack to his cheek. "Which is the biggest face lie of all!"  
"Even worse, I think I was beginning to feel feelings for her." They all gasped. "After that, I'm now done with bot-fights."  
"Phew." Ari sighed. "That's a relief."  
"Ari," Hiro turned to her. "I am so, so sorry that I hurt you." But she waved it off.  
"I'm just glad you've got your moral compass straight." Ari smiled.  
"Yeah." He nodded. "I could've ended up just like Trina if it weren't for Tadashi, and Aunt Cass, a-and you guys." Hiro nervously rubbed his arm. "So thanks. For worrying about me."  
The group exchanged glances and went into a group hug, he felt the warmth of his sister's arms the most.

No matter if they didn't see eye-to-eye at times, Ari was a good sister. He was lucky to have her in his life.

* * *

However, far from this heartfelt moment was another family meeting going on. This time with Trina, she emerged from the shadows, one of her bots holding a diamond. "Good haul today Father."

"What? No greeting for me?" Her _sister_ Mikan whined.  
"Hush." Their father held up a hand. Obake had an uninterested look when seeing Trina's bot crawl up to him holding the gem. "You've been collecting trinkets? What a grand waste of time."  
"That'll make money!" Mikan exclaimed. "Since I moved back home, I still wanna send some money to Steven and Mo-I mean Sally."  
Trina rolled her eyes. "I don't even know what you see in them."  
"Amusement?" She shrugged. "So, can you show us what happened?" Mikan gestured to the small sparks coiling off of her. "I'm assuming you had a run in with the waterbending gal I told you about."  
Her sister nodded, then she opened her face, revealing the true robotic parts underneath. She showed a video of Hiro trying to talk her out of it.

" _Look, I do understand. My brother got me out of bot-fighting, and into SFIT._ "

"Typical Hiro behavior." Mikan rolled her eyes.

Obake seemed to agree with her. "We offered him freedom, and he chose to leash himself again."

Trina nodded, and she closed her eyes, her father hugged her tight and stroked her hair. "It's time to move forward."  
"Oh no, you don't mean _that._.." Mikan winced. "That's too far Pops."  
"Don't worry." Obake turned to her, the left side of his face glowing purple. "You won't be getting your hands dirty, although having Ari away from her brother as much would be helpful."  
"I don't like the sound of that." But she was a good sister, and she'd do it for Trina, and her dad. No matter what the uncomfortable feeling in her gut told her.

* * *

"Do I have to do this?"  
"You wanna make it up to me? Then do it."  
"Fiiiine."

Hiro gritted his teeth as he walked to a table, a script in his hand.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, in the corner of his eye his little sister snickered. Next to her, Sara started rolling the tape. _Note to self, never use the term 'I'll do anything' ever again._

The reddish-brown eyes of Karmi stared up at him with a neutral expression. "What do you want now Hiro?"  
He held up the script in his hands, and she noticed Ari and Sara taking footage of this moment and realized what was going on. "Oh my gosh no-"

"Dear Karmi, since I have been quote-on-quote 'the biggest jerk on campus' I, Hiro Hamada have to read aloud this paragraph about the _best_ -" He said that through gritted teeth. "Biotech student in SFIT."

And as Karmi kept giggling and shooting him pity looks as he read his script, Hiro learned his lesson.

He also learned Ari was very creative in punishments, which also concerned him, just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the Bot-Fighter!
> 
> Mikan why... So yeah, Hiro was a dumb noodle this chapter.
> 
> Like bruh, why'd you have to pull the "you're not my brother" card Ari. Poor gal, though she got even at the end XD.
> 
> Now he knows Mikan's a mole, whether he confronts Mikan about this himself remains to be seen. But it was fun writing Trina! She... I have mixed feelings, I like her as a villain but I don't like her personally for playing Hiro like a fiddle this ep. No offense to you Trina fan though, n.n we're all a chill fandom here.
> 
> See you all for Halloween :))), it's gonna be 2 days a week! HAHAHAHAHA!


	52. Chapter 51: (Obake Yashiki) Halloween Corn Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween  
> Halloween  
> HALLOWEEN  
> HALLOWEEN

As quick as autumn leaves turn red, Halloween is here in San Fransokyo.

Ari was especially excited to spend her first Halloween with Hiro, all she had about the holiday was memories of trick-or-treating with her parents. Dad would hold her candy bag when it got too heavy and Mom would hold her hand when they rang the doorbell of a really scary house with creepy decorations. Sometimes Ari wished she could photograph her memories and hang them on her wall, it'd make her feel a whole lot better.

It was evening, right before they were going out. At first she didn't know what she was going to do for her costume, but a group text from Mikan provided the answer.

Apparently the Fern kids were going with a theme, that being dressing up as the various villains Big Hero 6 had faced.

Wanting to jump on the bandwagon, Ari dressed up as none other than her favorite member of the High Voltage duo much to Hiro's dismay. He was mostly annoyed that she wasn't going as a pirate like him. Ari wasn't going to tell him where she got the outfit from, no matter how much candy he bribed. _Sides, it was from Mikan, and I don't want to know where she got it from. Ebay or something?_

Speaking of him, he was taking a lot of time putting his "pirate make-up" on.

"Hiro." Ari knocked on the bathroom door. "We're leaving in like, ten minutes."  
She got a knock back in return. "Well maybe _someone_ shouldn't have spent half an hour on make-up!"

Ari huffed in offense. "Hey! I'm not good at it!" It had taken her forever to replicate the same extensive eyeshadow her friend had for her "High Voltage" look, how Juniper pulled it off so flawlessly she just didn't know. _Maybe it's maybelline._

The door opened. "Finally!" She squealed. "Oh my gosh, Hiro you did such a good job!"  
Hiro had pulled off the pirate look to a T, he had the torn striped shirt and baggy pants pirates had. Along with a bandana and eyepatch, and to add flavor he added a scar on his cheek.

"Thanks." He smiled back at her. "You did a good job yourself."  
"Well, only because you helped. A lot." Ari chuckled, her brother offered to help but she insisted on doing the make-up herself. "How'd you learn to do make-up like that?"  
"Aunt Cass taught me a few tricks." Hiro shrugged. "Honey Lemon also showed me a few pointers."

She hummed. _I wonder what he uses make-up for?_ "How come?" Ari decided to ask."To hide the bags under my eyes from a long night patrol so nobody questions my tired state."

"Ohhhhh."

* * *

They met up with the others a few blocks away. Fred was dressed as Captain Fancy, Honey Lemon went for Lenore Shimamoto, Gogo just put on white cat ears and called it a day, as for Wasabi..  
"So, why a pineapple?" Hiro questioned.  
"It's the only fruit that fits." Wasabi told him. Their brief exchange was interrupted by Fred literally leaping for joy.

"Guys! Guys! Did you see that?" Fred pointed to the trick-or-treaters across the street. "I am a Halloween costume!"  
Sure enough, plenty of kids were dressed as the various members of Big Hero 6. "We're all Halloween costumes." Hiro hummed with amusement.  
"This is officially the coolest day of my life!" The comic fan was grinning from ear to ear. The others smiled as Fred kept jumping up and down.

"Wait, we're missing one." Hiro paused, he looked behind him to see Baymax was interacting with a small trick-or-treater dressed as him. "Baymax! C'mon buddy!"  
The robot turned around and caught up to the group, Ari giggled with amusement at the small interaction.

"So what are we doing first?" She turned to Hiro.

Gogo raised an eyebrow at her, then to the latter. "You didn't tell her what we're doing?"  
"I thought she knew!"  
"No I don't!"  
"We're going to a haunted house." Honey Lemon told her.

Ari's eyes lit up with excitement. _A haunted house? I've never been to one before!_ "Cool!" She glanced over to Wasabi. "I'm shocked you consented to this."  
"It's a safe scare, not real." He argued. "So I'll only be half as scared as I usually am."

"Oookay, sure." She rolled her eyes. "We're gonna do some trick-or-treating first, right?"  
"What kind of question is that?" Hiro chuckled. "One does not simply skip trick-or-treating. Unless you're too old or in college, or both."  
"Hey!" The older college students chorused in mock offense.

* * *

They finally arrived at the haunted house, which was covered in gravestones and ghouls. Ari clung to Hiro when they walked past a few ghosts clinging to the trees. Fred was the brave soul who knocked on the door. An old man with coarse grey hair and a black suit swung it open.  
"Welcome, welcome to Mr. O'Hare's House of Scares!" He greeted them as eerie laughter played from some radio, it made chills run down everyone's spines. "Are you ready to be… scared?"

Honey Lemon clapped, Fred bounced up and down. Gogo just claimed "cheesy."  
"How about you little kids?" Mr. O'Hare turned to Hiro and Ari. "Are you ready to be scared?"  
"No?" Ari squeaked, her voice said otherwise.  
"I'm fourteen." Hiro narrowed his eyes. Or eye, since the right one was covered by an eyepatch.

"Oh, well you are a little on the diminutive side." Mr. O'Hare then opened the door. "Anyway, enter… if you dare!"

The group walked into the house as wolves howled, Baymax stopped at the door to see that the host was responsible for the howling by clicking his phone. He was still on it when the robot entered the house, for some reason.

" _Trick or treat._ "

* * *

The eerie laughter followed them into the haunted house. " _Psst._ " Ari turned to her left, Hiro tugged her sleeves and gestured for them to slow down. She complied. "Did you tell the others about your water powers yet?"  
Ari shook her head no, "haven't found a good time. No."  
"Well, speaking of that." He bowed his head down. "I can't believe you did them in front of Trina."  
"I think she knew all along." She winced.  
" _What are you gonna do? Throw water at me?"_

"Yeah I can see that…"

"What do you mean by that?" Ari frowned. "You haven't talked about Trina since she showed her true colors."  
"Well…" Hiro curled his lip, trying to ignore the flash of pain in his chest. The recent betrayal had hurt too much to think about. But what was even worse was learning that Mikan, _Mikan_ of all people, was Trina's accomplice! A part of him wanted to confront or even warn the others about her, especially since Ari would spend the rest of her night in the company of the unstable woman. But he feared what she would do. _Does her siblings, David and Sara know what she does? Then again… I feel like I'm missing part of the story_. "It's nothing." He lied.

"If you say so." His sister hummed.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " The group jumped up as a skeleton popped out of the floorboards and screeched at them.

" _This is not anatomically correct._ " Baymax being Baymax, was unfazed. Neither was Gogo too for that matter.

They then entered a room with a crystal ball, Hiro stepped in first to observe the ball and check if there were jumpscares. Instead his gaze went to several kinetoscopes plugged into the walls. "Um, I've never seen these in a haunted house before." His hands felt the binoculars, which were smooth and metallic, recently built by the looks of it.

"Have you been to a lot of haunted houses?" Honey Lemon asked.

He chuckled. "Yeah. Tadashi would take me to them all the time."

Fred flashed him a sad smile. "Mhmm. He always had a taste in the spooks." He walked up to the machines and looked into the binoculars. "Oooh a vampire. Check it out guys!"

The others followed suit, gazing into the binoculars. Aforementioned vampire cackled, turning into a bat and steam hissed as it lunged at them.

"Ack!" Ari yelped. "No wonder Katie hates vampires."  
"Woah!" Fred jumped back. "Freaky."  
"Eh. It just blew air in your face." Gogo shrugged it off. "It's a trick."  
"I find your lack of fear disturbing, to be honest."

"Maybe Gogo's not afraid of anything, she is fearless and brave." Honey Lemon defended her friend, who blushed at the compliment.

"Everyone's afraid of something." Wasabi pointed out. "Come on Gogo, something must freak you out."  
"What are you afraid of?" Ari asked him.  
"For me? I'm gonna go with heights."  
"I think you all know mine." Fred flinched at the memory.

"Same." Ari nodded.  
"Spiders?" Hiro gestured to the former.  
"Uhhhg, leggy little demons." He brought his cape to his face, the creaking of a coffin alerted his attention. He jumped back and yelled with the rest of them as a mummy popped out from the coffin and screamed!

Everyone but Gogo and Baymax screamed too, the robot just started wrapping the mummy's bandages tighter. " _Your bandage is loose. This could increase your risk of infection._ "

"I'm afraid of hippos." They all turned to Honey Lemon.

"Hippos?" Hiro frowned, "I thought you loved all things cute."  
"Hippos aren't cute! Hippos are-oh..." Honey Lemon shuddered.  
"Why are you afraid of them?" Gogo raised an eyebrow, the others nodded in agreement, wanting to know the full story.  
The chemist took a deep breath. "I went on a safari once, I got lost. And then I ran into one of those hippos..." She shivered at the memory. "It opened its mouth and bellowed and there were more of them and-"  
"Okay okay okay." Gogo calmed her. "You don't have to say anything more." She took a deep breath. "Since you confessed your fear I might as well tell mine. I don't like… leprechauns."

They all blinked.

"Leprechauns?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
"Leprechauns." Fred wore a neutral expression on his face. "Okay, kind of mundane."  
"Excuse me if my darkest fear bores you-"  
" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " A screeching mummy falling from the ceiling caused them all to shriek and jump back from the crystal globe.

"I think we're done here."

* * *

They exited the haunted house in a hurry, Ari heard the host say something about leaving a good review. She saw in the shadows he was on his phone again, and giving them all wary looks. She wasn't gonna lie, it felt off to her.

"You guys." Gogo was on her phone. "Noodle Burger Boy's at the Krei-Tech shipyard." The rest of the members clicked their Skymax apps.  
"Does this mean I have to find the Fern kids on my own?" Ari huffed, mentally cursing the small robot menace for ruining quality bonding time!

"Mhmm." Hiro hummed. "With David, Sara and Mikan..."  
"And David's girlfriend Sienna." She pointed out. "She's meeting us at the corn maze."  
"Weird question, has Mikan brought up anything about her family?" He had pulled her aside for a private conversation as the others waited for Skymax to arrive.  
Ari pondered for a moment, a little confused by the question. "Well her dad's a busy businessman, but one time she had me run an errand to give Steven a letter saying she was moving back in with him and that was the whole 'High Voltage stole from Krei-Tech thing' y'know?"  
"Uh-huh, and her siblings? Besides David and Sara."  
"Well she never told me their names, but she and her sister have a lot in common apparently, and her new little brother is a noodle burger loving maniac."  
Hiro's eyes seemed to widen at the words "noodle burger" but brushed it off. "Okay."  
"Is something the matter?" She asked, a little concerned.

"I think something's up with Mikan." Those words did not make her feel better, "but just don't bring up her family. And don't bring up Trina or the robberies, got it?"  
She nodded. "Will you tell me more later?"  
"Pinkie promise." They both did the childish but sacred gesture, and parted ways as Skymax arrived and the team piled on Baymax's back (or cling to his arms in Wasabi's case) and flew to stop NBB.  
_I'm kind of tempted to go home and just pig out on my share of Halloween candy instead of going to the Fern Kids._ Ari hummed, _but Sara's filming for her vlog and I wanna hang out with Sienna. The only thing scary about this is how many times we're gonna get lost._

_What else could happen? Ghosts?_

* * *

She clung to the well-lit streets like a cat stuck in a tree. Halloween night was never a good time to go out alone, Ari was aware there were dangers of being by yourself on such a hallowed night. It didn't make her feel better as the bitter wind chilled her to the bone. Luckily she was a block away from her destination, and a few trick-or-treaters were going the same direction she was! It wouldn't hurt to stick close to the trio of costumed ninjas would it?

"Hi." She walked up to the group. "Is it okay if I tag along for a little bit? I'm getting close to my stop but uh… safety in numbers amiright?"  
One of the boys flashed her a smile. "Sure. We're just going to the corn maze."

"Wait really?" They all nodded. "Me too!"  
"Cool." The other boy, a curly ginger instead of the brunette nodded.  
"I like your costume." The girl of the group who bore a family resemblance to the ginger male but with teal eyes instead of blue complimented her appearance.  
"Thanks." Ari smiled. "I'm Ari."  
"I'm Hank." The brown-haired boy with hazel eyes introduced himself, then gestured to his companions. "These two are Chad and Janice."  
"We go to Bridgeton." Chad told her. "Are you a freshman? We're juniors so we mostly hang around the seniors and sophomores, not freshmen."  
Ari shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm going to attend really soon, after my brother's done his first college semester."  
"Sounds cool."  
"Yeah, It'll be my first time in a public school, so I'm nervous." She chuckled. "But at least my friend Rachel goes to that school."  
"Rachel as in Rachel Rosemary? That Rachel? The one who's dad is that famous police detective who solved the case about the genetically experimented animals?" Janice raised an eyebrow.  
"Mhmm."

"Coolio, we know of her." Chad grinned. "Hank here is a good soccer player. And she's the team's biggest fan. And also we have painting class together."

Ari was surprised. _I didn't know Rachel was a soccer fan, then again I didn't think Hiro and Aunt Cass were baseball fans either._ "That's nice, maybe when I'll see you around when I start school there." Her grin then turned into a worried frown. "Uh, Bridgeton isn't run by a social hierarchy, right?"  
The trio of juniors chuckled. "Nah dudette, we have a few well-known students but none of that popular Mean Girls type of trope. Closests is that certain groups have their own tables, but it's mostly clubs and sports teams that follow that, and it's not enforced much."  
"Yeah, at least we don't have a group of Plastics running around." Janice nodded. "I'd be so done if someone started acting like Regina George, like I'd start looking for a Cady to help take her down."

Ari nodded in agreement. "wouldn't blame you."

The "Hayden Haunted Hay" corn maze had a few groups of people waiting by the entrance. An attendant in a scarecrow costume was at the front, a familiar group she knew was waiting for Ari.

"There she is!" Sara greeted her, she appeared to be dressed like Globby, having a long purple sweater and purple pants, green tinted goggles and purple glitter across her cheeks. David was dressed like his mom, and she suspected he got the outfit from her based on how the clothes were bigger than him.

Mikan's costume made her laugh. "Oh don't judge me, if it weren't for that stupid paper in 'rock-paper-scissors', Sara would be dressed like this." The snow-haired girl was NBB, and had the head as a doodled cardboard box, which fit her very comically.

"Wasn't your brother supposed to be escorting you?" That was Sienna who spoke up, the only one out of their group who wasn't dressed like a villain. She was dressed as a vampire with plastic sharp teeth and two red marks on her neck, and a black cape that went to her feet.

"He was busy." She lied. "But these guys escorted me." Ari waved to the students. "Bye guys!" They waved back as her group entered the corn maze.

* * *

After a few minutes, the group entered the corn maze themselves. After Sara had gotten her camera ready and began filming for her vlog.

Ari put on the best "professional" smile she could when Sara introduced her to the camera, and then they entered.  
"Relax, it's not a real corn maze." She heard Mikan talking to Sienna. "Chill out girl."  
"You're not the one with a crippling fear of scarecrows," Sienna shivered.

"It does look real." Ari frowned, it wasn't big as the corn mazes she saw on some videos. Torii Gate Park had been turned into a giant corn maze, filled with jumpscares, dead ends, and the sound of chainsaws.  
"Well we're off to a great start." Sara huffed. "We lost two of our group." She pointed behind her, David and Sienna were gone.  
"Wh-what!" Mikan stannered. "I was just talking to her!"  
"Did the scarecrow get them?" Ari stepped away from the corn, fearing a hand would grab her.  
"Hmm." The blonde narrowed her brown eyes. "My bet is that they're breaking the number one trope in horror movie history."  
"Yeesh." Mikan huffed. "I expected better of David."  
"What are you guys talking about?"  
"Nothing!"

Both of the Fern girls were rather wrong on their opinion of where lovebirds of the group went. Sienna did drag David, but not to smooch in secret, but to enjoy the corn maze themselves. Plus the art student enjoyed having her boyfriend as a shoulder to hold as they travelled through the haunted maze.

Speaking of her boyfriend, he had a perpetual frown on his face. "You okay David?" Sienna turned to him.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." He shrugged it off. But Sienna saw through the lie.

"Is it something family related?" She stared at him deeply.

He sighed. "Nothing related to my mother. But uh… Mikan's been a little wei-"  
" _BOO!_ " A ghost in the corn popped out, causing Sienna to scream and cling to David. Who was startled by the screaming and they both were crying their lungs out in horror.  
"Found them!" Mikan's obnoxious smug voice popped up behind a corner. David groaned in response.

"You like seeing us suffer, don't you?" There was a bitter tone in his words that Sienna barely managed to pick up.  
"Maybe."  
Sara poked her heads through the corn next. "Did we interrupt something?"  
"No!" The couple chorused.  
"Jeez! Get your minds out of the gutter." David turned a bright shade of pink at the thought, "what do we look like? The horror movie couple that goes off into the woods and dies first?"  
"Kind of." Ari spoke up, her words were humorous, her tone in a teasing manner. "Neither of you are blonde-haired, so you're safe."  
Said blonde of the group patted her hair. "I'm offended." She joked.  
"I think Sara's more of the Final Girl." Her brother defended. "She's smart enough to take on the killer. And win."  
"Your confidence in me makes me feel better."

They continued through the corn maze for another twenty minutes, however it was enough for everyone but Mikan and Ari so it was just them left in the maze. She had noticed the older girl giving her strange and… pitiful stares for some reason. It kind of disturbed her. _What is going on through her head?_

They hit a fork in the maze. "Oh no. Two directions." Mikan sarcastically mumbled.  
"That was weak." She huffed, Ari was having enough of this. "I'll take the left, you take the right."  
"Sure. Sure." Mikan shrugged.  
Ari squinted her eyes. "You alright Mikan?"  
"I'm fine!" Some of the snow-haired girl's anger returned. "Just tired." Ari didn't push the matter and went her direction, the scariest thing in her path was the giant fake tarantula that would have Fred screaming like a woodpecker.

"I am so tempted to head back." Ari huffed, "I bet Hiro and the others are done by now." She almost wished she could watch them beat the bolts out of NBB, key word being "almost." As last she heard, NBB was equipped with laser eyes, and you don't mess with laser eyes.

The fog rolled in, and Ari saw a figure in front of her. It was too misty to pick out the finer details of the man. _Must be another scarecrow._

He looked up, his emotionless brown eyes slightly covered by the black tufts of hair poking from his _San Fransokyo's Ninjas_ hat. She knew those eyes, in the portraits all over the house.

A scream rose up her throat, and she _bolted._ Ari continued to screech until she exited the corn maze, and crashed into Sara.

"Woah-woah-woah what's the matter?!" Sara pulled her into a tight hug. "It's okay, just breathe.

"G-g-g-gh-ghost-" She stuttered, trying to breathe properly and not have a panic attack. _You were just tired and seeing things, it's not real. It's not real. IT'S NOT REAL._

"Oh jeez, thought I heard a mouse." She barely registered Mikan's comment, but the haunted look in her eyes made Ari feel as if her friend was full of guilt.

* * *

Sara dropped her home, she managed to mumble out a thanks and headed upstairs, too tired to talk to Aunt Cass or pet Mochi. Hiro was upstairs as well, he shared the same startled look she had.

They didn't speak any words as Ari took off her Halloween costume and switched to her regular blue striped sweater, and placed her rosemary hair pin back where it belonged. She went into her candy stash and pulled out a bag.  
"Gummy bears?" Ari offered to her brother, who was burning holes into the wall.

"No thanks." She gasped.  
"You turning down gummy bears?" Ari dramatically exclaimed. "Who are you and what have you done with Hiro Hamada?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Hiro?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Did you… see anything weird tonight? Like a figure in the fog?"  
Hiro faced her, there was a haunted look in his brown eyes.

_The Krei-Tech crates had blocked NBB's path, smoke and fog flew in the air as he and Baymax landed. "Golly mister. That sure wasn't swell." The former customer happiness robot turned to them._

" _Noodle Burger Boy, it's time to reprogram you." Hiro declared, "you're coming with-"_

 _He then noticed the figure above them, to the right was a figure he thought he'd never see. Their head was faced down, but he recognized that hat, green blazer, and brown jeans he wore the day of his death. It shook his core seeing a single cold brown eye stare up at him.  
_" _Tadashi?_ "

* * *

"I think we're both just tired and still freaked out from the haunted house. We'll both be fine in the morning."  
Somehow, both of them knew it was just a comforting lie, because neither of them wanted to face the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HALLOWEEN!
> 
> I did NOT expect to be posting this ep at Halloween. So early update because second part will be on Saturday. MUHAAHAHHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Reason why Fern kids and Ari were dressed as supervillains is bc of my hc that if the kids dressed up as heroes for Halloween, they could dress up as villains either. Somewhere on my tumblr is a drawing of the Fern kids in their costumes, Ari's is yet to be posted XD
> 
> The Bridgeton students Ari runs into to her walk to the corn maze are based off the background students in "Something's Fishy" see if you can guess which kid is which!


	53. Chapter 52: (Obake Yashiki) Tadashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you believe in ghosts?

Hiro felt like he was starting to lose his mind.

In class, as Granville was teaching another lesson, he saw his brother again. Walking down the halls, but when he went to pursue, Tadashi had disappeared.

_There's no way ghosts can be real, right?_ Hiro thought. It was impossible, no such thing as ghosts, right?  
"Hiro?" He looked up from his lunch. Sara was staring at him, worry in her eyes. "You freaked out in class today, are you alright?"  
"I'm fine, just fell asleep a little." He lied. "I'm good."  
"Is Mikan forcing you to keep a secret or something?"  
He looked at her. "What?"

"I mean, David's been acting awkward around her for weeks! And they won't tell me anything!" Sara ranted. "That's so weird of Mikan! And David always tells me everything, we're siblings! Uhg!"  
"Sara?" It made him think too much of his own late sibling.  
His words brought her back to reality. "Oh. Sorry, that might've just been me projecting a little. Siblings, amiright?" She then noticed he was sniffling. "Oh my god Hiro sorry!" Sara freaked upon seeing his watery eyes.  
"It's-it's fine." He sighed, wiping his eyes with a napkin. "What were you saying about Mikan?"

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you." She frowned. "It's a family thing problem."  
"Did your uncle and aunt tell you that?"  
"No. But do you want to know?" He nodded. "All of us are worried about Mikan's weird behavior, she's always sneaking around, never telling us anything. Acting a little creepy like her weird dad. And she's been kind of passive-aggressive about her jabs at Big Hero 6."  
 _No kidding._ Hiro frowned. "Maybe it's something at home that's bothering her." He suspected Trina. _But if I tell Sara that, then she might be the one who gets attacked by robots next._

"That's our guess, but god forbid if we imply anything negative about her dad. She practically worships him, I mean I've met him once or twice, kind of creepy-"  
"What did he look like? Just curious." _And I need something to take my mind off the fact I might be having a ghost problem._

"Ah jeez lemme think. Well he was kind of tall, lean in figure. He had a red streak in his hair. And his eyes were cold-blue, not warm like your sister's. If looks could kill, those eyes could burn someone." Sara shuddered at the memory. "You feeling better?"  
"Yeah." Hiro nodded. "A little bit." _That description sounds familiar, where have I met someone like that?_

"Good, good." She chuckled. "Do you want to get a Noodle Burger?"  
"Sure!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: I have a weird question for you guys. Do you believe in ghosts?

Hiro Hamada: They're not real… I think.

Rachel Rosemary: You think?!

Mikan Ferns: "I grew up thinking the weird crow that lives in our yard is a ghost." -David

Sienna Kline: Omg honey no

Mikan Ferns: "NORMAL CROWS DO NOT BREAK INTO HOUSES" -David

Sara Ferns: The crow is totally a ghost

Mikan Ferns: This is what I have to live with.

Rachel Rosemary: Okay?

TheLittleMermaid: Hey Gogo I'm coming to your apartment, are you and/or Honey Lemon there?

Gogo: Yep

Honey Lemon: I'm out grocery shopping right now.

TheLittleMermaid: What are you buying?

Honey Lemon: Groceries?

TheLittleMermaid: Oh.

* * *

"That's fake fear Gogo. I thought you said you were afraid of leprechauns."

"I am but this… this is mostly sad."

Ari narrowed her eyes as she heard the banter from Gogo and Fred, she hadn't even knocked on the door! _Did Fred try to scare Gogo by using her darkest fear?_ She wondered. _Not cool dude._

She heard an offended gasp. "I spent hours applying this beard. It's real hair!"

"No it's all sad. Fred, Halloween is over." Ari frowned, Halloween had been over for two days already! Why was she still seeing-

"Oh no. Frederick Frederickson does not give up. I will scare you Gogo. Just you wait. Just you wait!"

_Thud. Thud._

Ari had enough and opened the door, Fred was trying to bike out of the room on his tricycle. He was wearing the saddest leprechaun outfit ever, real beard hair and all.

"Oh, hi Ari!" Fred chuckled. "Thanks." He then tried biking down the stairs, and tripped down, she winced as he yelped in pain the entire way down.

"Bye Fred!" She gave him a sympathetic stare and walked into the apartment. Gogo was reading a magazine but looked up to acknowledge her presence.

"Hiro trying to steal your Halloween candy Ariel?" She teased. "Don't worry, he used to tease Tadashi about that all the time and he never followed through."  
Ari shook her head. "No, he hasn't bothered me at all." _Mostly because we're having problems._ "But speaking of Tadashi..." Ari gave a nervous gulp. "Can you tell me about the showcase? The one where he...?" She gestured to her throat.

Gogo dropped the magazine, her eyes darkened. The tension was so thick one could cut it with a butter knife. "And why do you want to know about this?"  
"Because nobody wants to talk about it." She mumbled, head down trying to avoid seeing the anger in Gogo's eyes. "I just wanna know what happened."  
She sighed. "Hiro did his microbot presentation, he got accepted. Krei tried buying his microbots, Callaghan encouraged him to say no and he did. We then left the hall. Then the fire happened." Her words were curt, her tone emotionless. "Is that all you wanted to know?"  
"Well yes but-"  
"Then don't. Ever. Bring it up. _Again._ " Ari had never felt afraid of Gogo before, but she felt terror seeing the rage burning in her brown eyes.

"I'm sorry." _Maybe I shouldn't ask Gogo for help._ Without another word she left her alone. A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed the door.

_Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just going crazy._

* * *

_Meanwhile for Mikan and David..._

"I don't like lying to Sara anymore." David told her. "We should tell her where we're going. Where you're going."

"Stop asking me that dude." Mikan huffed, but her mind was on something else. She was aware of the weird behavior from Hiro and Ari and felt bad for them. _But nothing I can do for them._ She sighed.  
"Why not?" David frowned. "Is it because your dad told you?"  
"My dad is… he's working on something." She explained. "Something big. Something you and Sara will love, but I need to keep it secret for him."  
"What is it?"  
"I can't tell you."  
"Oh." He huffed. "Are you sure this 'thing' is good for you? Or good for your dad?"  
She grew angry at the words, how dare David accuse her father of just using her! He wouldn't! _But would he?_

"Man, can we just order our yogurt in peace." Mikan gestured to the frozen yogurt store they drove up to. "C'mon. We can grab some for your mom even."  
"Okay." He wasn't convinced. "But do you have to yell at Sara so much?"  
"Does she have to be so nosy?"

* * *

_Later that night..._

"Oh my god!" Ari gasped. "What happened to Baymax?!"  
"Noodle Burger Boy happened." Hiro grumbled. "He had stolen some Buddy Guards at the Krei-Tech shipyard, and also they turned into dumplings." He picked up a wrench from his toolbox, and turned his attention back to the exposed exoskeleton of the robot. "I had to wrestle one of those things." He gestured.  
"Wow." She hummed. "I always thought wrestling robots was a thing Gogo would do."  
"That's what Fred said." He chuckled. "But he's not gonna touch a dumpling after we got attacked by flying dumpling robots."  
"Yeah that's true. Poor guy." Ari paused. "Hey Hiro?"  
"Yes?"  
"Remember that one time we spied on Aunt Cass's date and you said flying dumplings would have to happen for you to fall in love?"  
Hiro's eyes widened. "Oh no. Ohhh no."  
"Yes!" She giggled. "Cupid's arrow is eventually gonna hit you soon big brother!" Ari placed a hand to her chin. "Maybe it'll hit a certain biotech teen genius at our school too-"  
"Ari I swear to god if you ever ship me and Karmi ever again I'll-"  
"Ooh ship! That reminds me I gotta come up with a ship name!"  
Hiro groaned. "I'd rather you not…" He fixed up some of Baymax's wiring and turned the robot on. "There buddy, how's that?"  
" _I am unable to move my arms._ " He replied. " _Also, my legs._ "  
"Ouch." Ari winced. "NBB slammed him hard."  
"Don't remind me." Hiro sighed. "I better make a few more adjustments." He reached for his toolbox, but Ari grabbed his sleeve jacket. "What?"  
She pointed to the garage door, he turned.

Standing under a lamplight was Tadashi.

Hiro and Ari gasped. Then, he walked away.  
"Tadashi?" Hiro frowned.  
"Oh god not again!" Ari groaned. "Baymax please tell me you saw that?"  
" _Saw what?_ " Baymax blinked.  
"Tadashi!" Hiro pointed outside. "He was-he was right there!"  
The robot's head tilted down. " _Hiro, I am sorry. But Tadashi could not have been here. Tadashi is-_ "  
"Gone." He sighed. "I know." Ari placed a hand on his shoulder.

" _Missing a loved one can be difficult._ " Baymax told them.

"It makes no sense though." His sister frowned. "I never met Tadashi, if it's just in your head, why am I seeing him too?"  
"I don't know." He narrowed his eyes. "Baymax, wait here."

"I don't think he's going anywhere." Ari gestured to the robot's inactive limbs. "But I'm coming too."

"Fine." Time for them to solve the mystery of these strange appearances.

* * *

Hiro exited the garage, with his sister trailing behind him. He saw Tadashi walking down the road. Hiro ran after him, as Tadashi crossed the street a truck drove by before they could cross. But he saw his brother's gaze before the truck blocked his field of vision.

"This is freaky." Ari commented, gasping as after the truck passed there was no sign of Tadashi. Then she turned around. "Hiro!" She pointed.

Hiro turned and resumed the chase as they followed Tadashi through an alleyway. A trolley drove past them, and both teens gasped when seeing Tadashi on that trolley.  
"What the hell?" He whispered, chills going down his spine as he ran to the trolley station but the trolley drove to its next stop just as they arrived. The bells rang and their sound echoed through the hallowed night.

"He's over there." Ari pointed across the street, Hiro looked up to see his brother walking into-  
"The haunted house?" He frowned. It had been two days, and the decorations hadn't been taken down. The sign was still there even.

The door squeaked as Hiro opened it, Ari gripped his left hand. "I'm really, really scared now." She whimpered.  
"Me too." Hiro clenched her hand as they walked through the haunted halls. "Hello?"  
"Anyone home?" Ari called out. "Mr. O'Hare? The mailman?"  
 _Slam!_

"Aah!" They jumped back as the door slammed behind them. Hiro swore and dragged Ari through the halls to get away from the entrance.

"I think it's just us." Ari shivered. "Maybe we should turn back. It's really late."

"Come on!" He protested. "I know someone's here." They walked past the room with the crystal ball. "We just saw-"  
They stopped.

Hiro gasped, Ari just kept her mouth open wide.

There was a figure on the other side of the table, and he turned around. Staring at the teens with his chocolate-brown eyes.

"Hey, little brother." Tadashi greeted them.

Hiro walked into the room, the floorboards creaked as he took shaky steps toward his brother. "Is… is it?" _This has to be a dream there's no way._

"Yes, it's me." Tadashi nodded.

* * *

_Roaring, flaming fires were bursting out of the showcase hall. The brothers gasped as smoke poured from the doors and students ran._

_As his brother was about to rescue Callaghan, Hiro gripped his shoulder. "Tadashi, no!"  
But Tadashi didn't listen. "Callaghan's in there, someone has to help." He ran inside, his hat falling to the side._

_And then the building exploded._

* * *

Hiro blinked, squinted his eyes. "This is impossible!" He held his hands to his head. "You-you died! We buried your body!"  
"C'mon, nothing's impossible Hiro." Tadashi shrugged.  
"How? How are you here?"

"Well, I could ask you the same thing." He replied. "How are you here, when I know for a fact, that Aunt Cass would not let you out this late."  
"I-I was working in the garage." Hiro explained. "And then I saw you and I just-"  
"Just snuck out?" Tadashi guessed, a hint of humor in his tone.

"I didn't sneak." He placed his hands into his pocket. "I… left."  
"Without telling her where you were going? It's good to see nothing's changed." His brother smiled. "Still the same old Hiro."  
Hiro smiled, then gave a frightened sound and backed away. "This is crazy. This is just crazy!"

"Yeah. You're telling me." Ari spoke up.

"Hm? Who's this?" Tadashi turned her. "One of your friends?"

"Oh uh..." Hiro scrambled. "This is Ari. She's very, very important to me." He nudged her into the room. "Yama, you remember Yama right?"  
"I remember Yama." His brother nodded.  
"Right. So Yama kidnapped her once, I found her. She had-I mean she has amnesia, and we kind of adopted her." He explained. "N-not that we tried to replace you or anything! But she just needed our help."  
"Hi." Ari awkwardly waved. "It's uh, nice to meet you."  
"It's nice to meet you too." Tadashi smiled. "Thank you for looking out for my brother."

Ari's eyes lit up at the praise, and a part of Hiro was starting to believe it was his brother standing in front of them. _It's a miracle, it's a miracle!_

"So how's it going at nerd school?" Tadashi took a seat.  
"It's-it's everything you said it'd be." Hiro replied. "Uh, except this professor, Granville. She's just so-ahhh!" He wasn't used to such a strict teacher. Most of his high school teachers were so laid back. _Probably because they didn't know what to do with a 9 year-old that was smarter than most of the student body._ "But I-I don't know, I guess that's good for me."  
Tadashi frowned at his words. "Good for you?"  
"She thinks I need limits."  
"Which he does." Ari added.

"Limits? Limits will just slow you down." Tadashi told him.

He frowned, that wasn't something his brother, who always ran tests before trying out something would say. "Uh, what do you mean?"  
Tadashi placed his hands on the table. "Hiro you can do anything. Be anything. But time is precious. Don't waste it. And definitely, don't let Professor Granville or anyone hold you back."  
"But limits are a good thing." Ari argued. "Even Mikan of all people agrees."  
"She does?"  
"Yeah." Hiro nodded. "Mikan is always careful when working in the labs, she tells me that I should value safety over success."

Ari nodded. "I think something happened to her which is why she has that idea, but I agree!"

Hiro noticed in the corner of his eye his brother had a fiery anger burning in his eyes. But he brushed it off since it merely lasted for a moment.

"I see." Tadashi murmured. "How's Aunt Cass doing?"  
"Aunt Cass is doing great." He took a seat in the chair, across from his brother. "But I-I can tell she misses you."

"She does." Ari added.

"I miss you too." Hiro looked up at his brother, despite Tadashi sitting there smiling at him, he still felt the pain of loss in his heart. It would never go away, even if Tadashi _was_ here.

Ari noticed the sadness rolling off of him and gripped his shoulder, smiling. "And Baymax misses you too, in his own little robot way." She chuckled.  
"Yeah, that and he's awesome." He grinned. "Of course he's a little broken right now. B-But I can fix him." He quickly added to avoid causing his brother to freak-out at "Baymax being broken."  
However, Tadashi didn't freak-out, he didn't even express any worry. He just gazed to the side of the wall and said. "You know, Hiro. You shouldn't waste your talents fixing my old work."

* * *

_What?_

_What!?_

That was something his brother would _never_ say! Tadashi would be happy that he was interested in his work, and he'd also be proud if he was working safely.

Ari gasped, she realized what was wrong too. She pulled him up from the chair and guarded him.  
"What's wrong?" His brother raised an eyebrow.

"Don't fix Baymax? You don't need limits...?" He repeated. "Tadashi would never say those things."  
He stood up. "I just want what's best for you."  
"You… are not my brother." Hiro growled, backing towards the door. But it slammed shut. He felt cornered like a rat. Ari wrapped her arms around his torso, her eyes flaring blue with protectiveness.

"Don't take another step." She threatened. "Tadashi or not, you are not laying a single hand on _my_ brother."  
"He was my brother first." He glared at her with those cold brown eyes. "You just replaced me."  
"Tadashi would definitely never say that!" Hiro snapped before his sister reacted. "He would've loved having a little sister." He trembled. "Who are you really?"

"What are you?" Ari shivered. "Why are you doing this to us?"  
The imposter chuckled, like it was a silly game. "Doing what?"  
"Pretending to be my brother."  
"And messing with us!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." His arm leaned on the chair. "Little brother."  
"It's this haunted house." Ari whispered.

He caught on, all this started because _they_ had come here. "Yeah, it's messing with us. But how?"  
Ari pointed behind the imposter, to the set of machines wired into the wall.

"The kinetoscopes..." He gasped. "Digital imaging lenses."  
"Lenses?" The imposter smirked, the symbol on his hat then shifted into another symbol, a monstrous symbol. " _Clever boy._ "

Ari gasped with horror at the voice, the cat out of the bag.  
"Obake." Hiro growled. He took two fingers to his eyes, and removed the contacts, and removed the image of his brother from his sight.  
Ari repeated the motion. "Man… that's messed up." She sighed, then watched as Hiro ran to the table, kicking the chair to the ground.  
"Damn Obake! Damn haunted house!" Hiro screeched. "DAMN GHOSTS! THIS WHOLE TIME WE WERE BEING TOYED?!" His anger erupted into a volcano as he punched the chair, wood splintering and his hand bloody red as he raged.  
"Hiro! Hiro!" Ari grabbed his arm, fighting with her strength to stop his pain. "It's over, he can't hurt us now!"  
"He used Tadashi… AGAINST ME!" The tears in his eyes flowed out. "He used my brother against me Ari!"

"Hey hey, he'll be stopped." Ari pulled him into a hug. "Please don't hurt yourself over this." She gestured to his splintered hand.  
"I won't do that." Hiro started plucking some of the splinters off, wincing in pain. "It… it hurts so much."  
She knew he wasn't talking about the splinters. "They'll heal, they just need lots of love."

"Yeah." They shared a hug, the heaviness that had weighed down on them for days was finally lifted.

But all that remained was an aching pain in both of their souls.

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Flame Jumper: Hiro and Ari THE HAUNTED HOUSE PUT CONTACTS IN OUR EYES. TAKE THEM OFF BEFORE YOU START HALLUCINATING

Captain Cutie: We know

Ariel: What the heck did you guys see?

Chem Girl: Our worst fears

Ariel: Oof

Speed Queen: Yeah. I'm gonna have nightmares about this.

Chop Chop: Wait if you guys already knew… what did you see?!

Captain Cutie: Something really messed up.

Flame Jumper: We're at my house, meet us there to discuss what happened?

Captain Cutie: Deal.

Ariel: Bring marshmallows, I want to drown my sorrows in them

Captain Cutie: ^

Speed Queen: Omg

* * *

"Wait, you saw Tadashi?" The group was huddled by the couch. Gogo had been the first to verbally react when Hiro told them what happened in the haunted house.

"Not only that, I talked to him." He bowed his head down. "It was so… real."  
Honey Lemon placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Hiro."  
"Uhg, that is crossing a line." Wasabi's gaze darkened with anger.

"Agreed." Fred shared a similar expression, but tears rimmed from his eyes. "How dare he taint Tadashi's memory like that..."

"Seriously, what is this Obake guys' deal?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.  
"And how could he know so much about Tadashi?" Hiro questioned.  
Ari then spoke up. "Maybe he saw the videos he took during his tests from Baymax?" She offered. "Like, he submitted them to the school right?"  
"Mhmm." He nodded, a suspect forming in his head. "Baymax? Did you show any of the tapes to anyone?"  
" _Yes._ " The robot nodded. " _Mikan had requested a copy of all the tests approximately 1 week ago._ "  
"Of course Mikan is involved." He growled. "That traitor."  
The others shared confused glances to Hiro. "What are you talking about?" Wasabi frowned.  
"Guys, I found out that Mikan had a hand in the bot robberies." He explained. "Because, her 'other sister' was Trina."

The reactions were instant.  
" _Oh._ "  
"WHAT?!"  
"This is just like the Captain Fancy movie all over again!"  
"Are you kidding?!"  
"Mikan? No!"  
"Does that mean she was just pretending to be nice to me this whole time?" Ari sniffled.

Hiro shook his head. "I don't know. But she did help Trina form a wedge in our sibling bond."

"Oh..."

"I have a few choice words with Ms. 'Critical of superheroes' next time I see her." Gogo crossed her arms.  
"Bad idea! You never confront the morally grey character in the story! That'll just drive them to the villain side even more!" Fred argued. "Our best bet is to maybe try to ask Sara or David to try and get her to lighten up. She has been distant lately."

Honey Lemon adjusted her glasses. "Remember when Mikan got taken hostage by NBB? She must have set that up! I can't believe she was working with Obake the whole time, and spying on us!"

_And who knows if she was even our friend in the first place._ Ari shifted uncomfortably in her seat. _But maybe… maybe she doesn't know the whole plan._  
"I don't think Mikan wanted to do that..." She confessed. "She looked really bad when we were out in the corn maze." The others exchanged hopeful glances, maybe there was a sliver of good in Mikan.

"Can I ask what happened to you guys now?"  
Fred posed dramatically. "Glad to Ari! Noodle Burger Boy had crashed into the school with his new dumpling robots! We were there, I was enjoying a nice pizza when Gogo called us over. The dastardly fiend was trying to steal the high-powered magnet she was helping Professor Granville on. But thanks to those accursed lenses, we were distracted by our own fears and he got away! What was worse, I didn't get to enjoy Gogo being scared!"  
 _Punch._

"OW!"  
"THAT was the worst part?!"  
Both teens giggled with amusement as Gogo chased Fred around the room for his constant fixation on scaring her.

"I don't like talking about Mikan this way. I wanna believe there's good in her." Ari whispered to her brother.  
"Me too." _I just hope her love for David and Sara is stronger than Trina's influence. If I could beat it, maybe she can too._

* * *

In another location, Obake was watching some of the clips from Tadashi's robotics project. Next to the side of him, Mikan stared at the screen with sadness. A few hours ago she watched her dad pretend to be a dead friend and trick Hiro and Ari.

_If it was supposed to be for a good cause, why do I feel so… bad?_ A hand clenched her chest, which felt heavy. Mikan tried to cool the primal anger in her veins about this all about her father's plans.

Her little brother arriving with the magnet delivery distracted her from her thoughts. " _Order up mister!_ " He beamed as much as a robot with a permanent grin on his face could.

"Good. Very good." Obake's hands brushed the side of the magnet. "Yes… this will do nicely." The left side of his face flashed violet, nearby a handful of Buddy Guards were building a machine. The one on Shimamoto's blueprints.

Soon his plans would come to fruition, and all he needed was Hiro to complete the puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! Hope your night was better than Hiro and Ari's
> 
> HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Poor kids! And the gang now know about Mikan! She has her limits, esp on the whole thing Obake did.
> 
> Reminder that Tadashi was also her friend so seeing her dad impersonate him was messed up, even for her.


	54. Chapter 53: (Countdown to Catastrophe) The Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Granville: Let me see what you have  
> Hiro: An energy amplifier!  
> Granville: NO--  
> Ari: Omg why does he have an energy amplifier

_Ohhh out all the days for Hiro to be a late owl, why now?_ Honey Lemon eternally groaned.

It was the end of the semester, which was a time for the students to begin working on their final projects. Unfortunately Globby chose at that time when they proposied their projects to the dean to steal something from Krei-Tech, and Hiro was the one who took a risk with Granville's ire to stop the fiend.

Now, Honey Lemon had to pray Hiro would arrive before he was too late. Gogo releasing her hand was the signal that it was her turn to present.

"Professor Granville." She spoke with a shaky, but strong voice. "Recently, we had learned that Lenore Shimamoto was not only an artist, but a scientist."  
"Yes, I personally was quite surprised." Granville nodded.  
"Thus, for my final project." Honey Lemon gestured to the screen. "I propose an investigation into Lenore Shimamoto's scientific work."

"Your project is approved." She would have been jumping for joy, but Honey Lemon noticed Gogo trying to grab her attention.

" _Stall._ " She mouthed, gesturing to Hiro's contact number on her phone. _Oh no, he's not back from tangling Globby!_

She blocked Granville as the dean tried moving to another desk. "I mean, she kept it all secret. It's pretty fascinating, you have to admit."  
"Yes. That's why I approved your project." Gogo continued to make "stalling" gestures and Honey Lemon prayed she would not get reprimanded for this.

"Why was it secret? That's the big question. Which… I… will attempt… to answer." In the corner of her eye she saw Hiro and Baymax running/waddling into the room. The teen genius was holding a metal briefcase for some reason.  
Granville noticed them as well. "I hear you panting Mr. Hamada."  
He quickly hid the briefcase behind Baymax. "Uh, hey, Professor Granvile. Is it my turn already?"  
"So it is, Mr. Hamada." Granville narrowed her eyes. "I hope you put as much thought into your proposal as your friends did."

"Yeah, about that."  
"You have nothing?"  
"I have nothing." He sighed

Honey Lemon internally winced and scooted over to Gogo, who was wincing as well in sympathy.

"I'm sorry Professor Granville." Hiro looked down. He should've kept a better track of his time between being a student and a superhero, the others were far better at that than him. "I've just been… overscheduled?"  
"With?"  
"Things. Lots of things." He lied. "Can I maybe get an extension?"

He had no such luck. "Unfortunately Mr. Hamada, the rules apply to everyone. Even you." Granville frowned. "Remember, your final project counts for sixty percent of your first-semester grade."

"That much?" His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"If you hope to see this smiling face again next semester." Granville gestured to her lips, "I suggest you step up."

"I will." Hiro nervously nodded.

"By the deadline!"  
"Right. I will not be-"  
"Late! Really sorry I'm late Professor Granville." He was cut off by Fred running into the lab in his mascot costume. He started rambling about a mascot final project and sparklers and Hiro tuned it out.

_I am screwed._ Hiro was internally panicking. _Sixty percent of my grade?! Uhg! And I have to investigate what Globby was trying to steal to boot!_ He took a deep breath. _Calm down Hiro, it shouldn't be that hard coming up with a project. Just "look for a new angle" and you'll be good!_

Yeah no he was totally screwed.

* * *

The wide blue-eyed grinning smile of his sister greeted him when he entered the cafe.  
"Hi Hiro!" Ari beamed. "Rough day at school?"

"Eh, not really." He lied. "I'm actually going to Krei-Tech later today, business stuff."  
Her eyes widened with curiosity. "Oooh, can I come too?"  
"I said business stuff. Business." Aka they'd be showing up as Big Hero 6.  
Ari quickly picked up on the hidden message. "Oh. Good luck then." She walked up to him. "Did you see Mikan at school?"  
Hro shook his head. "No, I didn't see her. Why do you ask?"  
"I dunno." she shrugged. "I'm just… I don't wanna think of her as a bad guy."  
"Me too." Hiro clenched his teeth. He wasn't as close to Mikan as he was with Sara and David, but willing or not, she had a hand in making their Halloween experience miserable. "But I have half a mind to say my piece on her 'comments' about Big Hero 6. She's doing that because she _knows_ who Big Hero 6 is and it's just-" He groaned in frustration.  
"Do you think she knows what happened to me?" His sister had a gloomy look on her face. "I think she does 'cause I see her give me these pity looks sometimes."

That caused him to frown. "Why do you want to know." Ari had never really talked about the rest of her memories since that trip to Sycorax and learning about her parents.

"Just I-" She sighed. "Curious. And I want Mikan to answer why I was shoved in a cell. I still get nightmares from that and it sucks."  
He gently patted her shoulder. "Well I'll promise to try and get answers for you, try not to think about it much okay?"  
"Okay." Her smile brightened up a little.

"That's my little sister who's the best! Wanna split a bag of gummy bears?"  
"Always!"

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: Mika

Sara Ferns: Mika

Sara Ferns: Mikan Ferns

Mikan Ferns: WHAT

Sara Ferns: Hi

Mikan Ferns: -_-

Fredzilla: What are you doing Sara

Sara Ferns: I'm dying from this semester project

Mikan Ferns: I'm working on my own rn

Mikan Ferns: "same and it's hard" -David

Gogo: Oof mood

Honey Lemon: Aww good luck Sara and David!

Mikan Ferns: Hey!

Honey Lemon: You didn't complain

Mikan Ferns: Ouch..

Sara Ferns: Rofl! Anyways just checking up on you two.

Mikan Ferns: "We're good" -David

Gogo: You can just call them Sara, it'll spare my notifs.

Sara Ferns: Just turn them off you slacker!

Gogo: : (

* * *

Alistair Krei was having an average day running his company. Krei-Tech was running well, his employees were doing their jobs and racking in lots of profits. He was grinning ear to ear at his success.

Then his office door opened. "Mr. Krei?" Steven sheepishly walked in.  
"Ahh Steven, don't tell me there's another problem with the Buddy Guards again?" Krei greeted.  
"No. Just wanted to tell you there are some visitors." The mechanic gave a nervous chuckle.

"Visitors?" Steven then turned to the side and gestured to the four superheroes that were walking behind him.  
"Ahh, Big Hero 6!" Krei greeted. "What can I do for you? No one's after my life again, is it?"  
"Did you cross any scientists recently?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.  
"Hey that was one time!"  
"Out of many." Gogo mumbled low enough that the CEO couldn't hear, but Steven caught wind of the comment and muffled a snicker.

Krei cleared his throat. "You may go now Steven, go see if there's any repairs needed speaking of the Buddy Guards."  
"Will do sir." Before he went, Steven then turned to Big Hero 6. "By the way, I'm a huge fan of you guys. Mind if I get an autograph?"  
They all gave various nods. "Awesome!" Fred had exclaimed.

"Thanks." The mechanic nodded. "My niece and kids are real big fans of you guys too, so this is more for them."  
"Aww that's sweet of you." Hiro smiled. "You're such a great parent."  
Steven blushed at the praise. "Gee, that's really nice of you to say sir. Not everyday you get called a good parent by your local superhero."

"Don't you have three kids?" Krei pointed out. "Could've sworn you had three."  
"I just said niece and kids." Steven reminded him, and he exited the office.

With the third party gone, Krei turned to Big Hero 6. "What did you see me for?"  
"This." Hiro pushed the briefcase onto the desk as the rest of the group fuddled around the office. "Globby was in your warehouse today trying to steal it."  
"So I have Big Hero 6 to thank for the mess in my warehouse."

"We stopped Globby from taking this, but why did he want it?"  
"What's in the briefcase, Krei?" Gogo demanded.

He picked it up, attempting to recognize it. "Uh, nothing." He dropped it back on the desk.

" _My scan indicates that there is not 'nothing' inside._ " Baymax pointed out.  
"Well it's nothing valuable." Krei corrected. "See for yourselves."

He opened up the case and placed a burnt object onto the desk. "A few years ago Krei-Tech and every other tech company was trying to create an energy amplifier."  
Fred walked up to the desk and squinted at the object. "Is it supposed to look like a burnt Noodle Burger?"  
"Pretty sure no." Hiro replied.

The CEO continued his explanation of the object. "Bleeding-edge technology that would exponentially multiply the output of any power source. But there were... complications."  
"Complications?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.  
"Warehouse fires." They all gave him looks. "What? Everyone lived. And we all learned a very important lesson: the energy amplifying business is not a sound investment."  
"So it was a massive fail."

"It was not technically a failure if the whole idea was impossible in the first place." Krei argued.

"Impossible?" Hiro glanced down at the object with a sudden curiosity. "You sure?"

"My people say it is, and as clever as you all are, I hired the best and the brightest in the business."  
Gogo scoffed at the statement. "Yeah right." She mumbled under her breath.

"And if they couldn't crack it, I doubt you bunch can. It was just one giant warehouse fire after the other." Krei fiddled with the burnt amplifier.

"The warehouses always pay for our mistakes." Fred lamented. "It's not fair."  
"Then why did Globby try to steal it?" Gogo asked him.

"Maybe he collects garbage. Because that's what this is." Krei walked over to the trash can by his desk and tossed the amplifier in it. "Expensive garbage, but still garbage."

"Well that bites." Gogo turned to Fred. Who nodded in agreement at the disappointment at finding no valuable information.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with R&D about something that is both possible and profitable." He began to exit the office. "Fireproof warehouses."  
As the two other superheroes watched the CEO leave, they didn't notice Hiro walking up to the trash can and pulling the burnt amplifier out.

As he inspected the metallic object he had an idea, an idea willing to prove Krei wrong.

* * *

_Clack-clack-clack-clack_

Ari opened the lab door and heard the sound of computer keys clicking. She saw Hiro was glued to his screen, a weird metal object next to him.  
"Hey." He looked up from the screen. "I brought back some Noodle Burger!" Ari showed him the paper bag full of burgery goodness she picked up on her way here.  
"Oh, thanks sis." Hiro smiled. "I've been working for hours."

She took a seat next to him. "Whatcha workin' on by the way? That looks like a burnt Noodle Burger over there." Ari gestured to the metallic object next to him.

He chuckled. "You and Fred have the same mindset sometimes, it's a-"

"Am I to believe this is your final project, Mr. Hamada?" Both teens saw Professor Granville pop into the lab.

"Final project?" His sister narrowed her eyes at him. "Hiro! I thought you were working on that by now."

He just flashed her a goofy grin. "You know me." Hiro turned his attention to Granville who picked up the burnt amplifier. "And uh… yeah, I guess it is."  
"What is it?" She squinted at it.

" _Expensive garbage._ " Baymax chipped in. Ari snickered at the response.

"Uh no, Baymax." Hiro patted the robot's arm down. "I'm making an energy amplifier." He bet he could do it, and it would do a lot of good for people.

Ari gasped. "Cool!"  
"An energy amplifier?" Granville questioned. "This is not what I expected of you."

"I know, me neither." He replied excitedly. "But I think if I can minimize energy loss as heat through-"  
"Impossible."  
"Well, it won't be easy but-"

"I mean that I reject this proposal because it is impossible."

Hiro stuttered. _Impossible?_ That wasn't a word in his dictionary. "What? No. I think I'm really onto something here." He gestured to his notes. "Look at my-"  
"Arrogance showing?" Granville cut him off. "This is too advanced and undertaking, Mr. Hamada, even for you."

He sat up, protesting. "But Professor Granville, this could revolutionize energy efficiency and change-"  
"It is also incredibly dangerous." There was a slight crack in her voice. "Try to think responsibly for once!"  
Ari placed a hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it off. "Um, Hiro-"

"I am, but you're not listening, because you don't think I can do it!"

"It is not always a question of 'can' Mr. Hamada!" Granville slammed her hand on the desk, catching both teens off guard at the _volume_ in her voice. "Sometimes it's whether you should."  
"Hiro, I think that's enough." Ari softly whispered. But he ignored her warnings, he knew he was smart enough to figure it out.

"But I can. So I should." He gestured.

Granville sighed, and took a deep breath before speaking again. "My decision is final." There was a haunted look in her eyes as she left the lab. "Come up with another proposal. And soon."

* * *

" _Hiro._ " Baymax was the first to break the silence. " _You still have time to devise an alternate proposal. May I help?_ "  
"Yeah." Ari shakily added. "You-you could maybe add something to those microbots thingies you did for your showcase. But better!"  
"It's okay guys." Hiro picked up his papers from the floor. "I've already got a backup plan."

" _That is excellent news._ "  
"Oh I'm gonna prove Professor Granville wrong."

"Oh no." Ari grumbled.

" _I do not understand._ " Baymax blinked.

Hiro continued to pick up and organize his notes. "I'm gonna work on the amplifier, you know, in secret."  
" _Her decision was final. Would you like me to play it back?_ " Baymax then replayed the clip of Granville saying her decision was final.

"Yeah, I heard. But when I pull this off-"  
" _If._ " Ari lifted a finger.  
"Which I definitely will, thanks Ariel." Hiro sarcastically added. "Then Granville will be too impressed to be mad." He gave a cocky smirk. "I'm gonna make her eat her words."  
" _That is not physically impossible._ " The robot pointed out.

"Well, I'm gonna do a lot of impossible things." He was about to exit but then Ari blocked him off.  
"Woah-woah-woah let's talk about this!" She argued. "This is probably a _huge_ safety hazard! Where did you get this idea from and what did it cause?" Ari turned to the robot. "Back me up here Baymax!"

" _Hiro found the energy amplifier model at Krei-Tech. It was what Globby tried to steal._ " Baymax explained. " _The result was constant warehouse fires._ "  
Ari snorted. "Warehouse fires. And you think you can pull it off?"  
Hiro scoffed. "Gee, thanks for the support sis, glad I can count on you."  
"I'm not trying to be supportive!" She argued. "Oh wait that was sarcasm, whoops." Ari cleared her throat. "Anyways, I don't think you should do this out of spite."  
"I'm not doing it out of spite I'm doing it because it could help a lot of people!"  
"Or you could hurt yourself!" She clenched her fists. "Hiro, maybe look past your pride for _one second_ to see that maybe you should listen!"

"You're not gonna make me change my mind Ari!"

Ari bowed her head down, a sign of defeat. "Right, but please promise you'll be careful with this."

"I promise." Hiro held up a finger, "pinkie promise?"  
She returned the gesture, "pinkie promise."

Suddenly, another face entered the lab. To the shock of Hiro and the amusement of Ari. "Um, I heard yelling in here." Karmi poked her head through the door. "Is everything okay?"  
"Oh we're good!" Ari smiled. "Glad that you care about my brother as much as I do!"  
That caused the biotech genius to turn red. "I don't! I just was curious about the yelling!" Her voice lowered. "It sounded bad."  
Hiro frowned. _Did Karmi overhear the argument between Granville and I?_ "Well there's no arguing now, but thanks for checking in I guess."  
"You're welcome."

"Awww you guys are so cute together!" Ari squealed.

"Ari no…" Hiro had a look of dread on his face.

"Little sisters, amiright?" Karmi rolled her eyes in amusement.  
"Yeah." Hiro nodded his head.  
"Aww and you guys are bonding! I still need to come up with a ship name for you both."  
"ARI!"

* * *

Superhero Squad group chat:

Flame Jumper: Guys

Flame Jumper: Guys

Flame Jumper: Guys! I have the best plan to catch Obake!

Speed Queen: Here we go again

Flame Jumper: The others need to know Gogo!

Ariel: Really?!

Chem Girl: Tell us Freddie : D

Flame Jumper: So you know how Globby was trying to steal Krei's energy amplifier?

Ariel: Why tho

Chop Chop: For Obake probably

Flame Jumper: Yeah! Globby's been working with Obake!

Ariel: And?

Flame Jumper: We'll set a trap by making Globby think we have the amplifier, catch him and then make him take us to Obake!

Chem Girl: That sounds like a great plan!

Chop Chop: Yeah idk if we can go tho

Ariel: What are you guys doing?

Chem Girl: My semester project! We're going to visit Shimamoto's lab!

Ariel: Oh have fun : D, why tho

Chop Chop: We found a clue in her journal.

Speed Queen: How. I thought you combed it fifteen times, was it in hidden ink?

Chem Girl: Yeah, I'll tell you more later.

* * *

Sara felt the tip of her pencil break from the pressure she was pushing down on it. She groaned and sharpened it and placed it on the paper only for the same result to happen again.

"Uhg!" She angrily tossed the pencil across the lab room. "Stupid wooden pencils!"

"What did they ever do to you?" She turned to the lab door, her aunt was leaning on the frame with a neutral expression on her face.  
"Oh, hi Aunt Sally." Sara said half-heartedly. "Are you going to remind me of my semester project? I'm still working on the blueprints but it's slow."

Sally shook her head. "No Sara, I wanted to ask if you know what's going on with David and Mikan."  
She sighed. "You've noticed too?"  
"Mhmm." Her aunt had a look of concern. "God knows where Mikan's always sneaking off to, and she's been dragging David too. I don't know what's going on with them."  
"I have a theory." Sara confessed. "I think it has to do with David's mom, and maybe Mika's dad. You know Mika's dad right?"  
"Yes." Sally murmured. "We went to school here together, and it was strange of them to call Mikan back home so soon. Having her merely send a letter instead of coming in person, it's strange."

"You're telling me." Sara sighed. "Are they not telling because they don't trust me?"

"I think it has to do with bonding over parents' sweetheart."

"But I-I know that feeling of having a not-so-perfect parent..." She felt tears brimmer. "There was my mom."

Her aunt wrapped her into a hug. "Your mother was an abusive witch, she'll never hurt you again. And I'm going to talk to David and Mikan about them leaving you out like this."  
"Can you talk to them after the open house?" Sara asked. "I don't want all this stress hanging over our heads."  
"Alright, talk to me if you're feeling down, okay?" Sally gave her a smile.  
"I promise Aunt Sally."

* * *

_Meanwhile with Honey Lemon and Wasabi..._

The two SFIT students were back in Shimamoto's lab to continue their investigation. This time they were accompanied by SFAI student Sienna Kline, who had been poking through the lab herself a few times.

"I'm glad you two brought me along." Sienna smiled. "I too want to solve the mystery of Shimamoto's scientific studies, where did you two find her journal again?"  
"She hid it in a secret compartment." Honey Lemon told her. "Maybe there's another one."  
"Could beM" the artist grinned. She then turned to the other member. "Wasabi, you alright?"  
He was nervously glancing at the walls. "Sorry, it's really dusty in here for my tastes, I find it hard to breathe."  
"That's understandable." Sienna flashed him a smile. "Would you prefer sitting this one out?"

"Yeah I don't wanna make you uncomfortable." Honey Lemon added. "I know dusty spaces freak you out."  
Wasabi grinned and handed Sienna his flashlight. "Yeah, I'd prefer waiting upstairs, thanks guys."  
"No problem." They waved as he headed back up the stairs to the living room.

"What was the clue you got again?" Sienna asked Honey Lemon. "Describe it to me, I need all the details."  
"It said 'mums the word.'" She recalled the corner notes on the page. "And there were small flower doodles on it."

"Well," Sienna grinned. "There's only one flower in this lab…" She walked over to the vase. "And that's the chrysanthemums."

"People used to call them mums!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. "The vase!" She ran over to inspect it. "That's what the clue leads to."  
"Something inside?" Sienna lifted it up to look at the inside, and got all the contents spilled on her. "Uhg!" She coughed. "Never doing that again!"  
She handed Honey Lemon the vase. "There's something outside instead." The chemist brushed the scratches on the vase with her fingertips. "This isn't a regular vase, it's a wax cylinder!"  
"Oh! My grandma used to own one of those old-timey records." Sienna grinned. "I have it in my dorm room, so I can bring it over to your house if need be."  
"Perfect!" Honey Lemon grinned. "Lenore Shimamoto must've wanted us to hear whatever she recorded on this."  
"And we're gonna find out." Sienna smirked. "Well, technically you… I'll see you at your school's open house."

"Thanks again for the help Sienna." Honey Lemon told her. "Make sure you bring that phonograph later."  
"I will!"

* * *

Steven Ferns felt like he wasn't paid enough at Krei-Tech.

First he saw Fred and his little robot pal Mini… Max, he thinks the robot's name is, requesting a meeting with his boss for some reason. Also for some reason, his co-worker Judy allowed it.

Then next thing he knew, Krei was planning some "fake" meeting about the energy amplifier failure back when he first worked for the company in an attempt to lure in Globby.

_I wonder if this has to do with Fred's meeting..._ The mechanic wondered as he finished his hours and headed home. _That boy would plan something like this, perhaps he was being the courier for Big Hero 6? They're probably busy saving cats from trees, or something._ He shrugged off the vague thoughts and continued on his way home.

He didn't get very far, as Mikan ran into him just as he was about to go his usual route. "Hi Steven!" She had a goofy grin on her face, a tell-tale sign she was scheming something. "Didn't think you'd be done so quick!"

_You know my hours at this point._ Steven thought, but presented a warm smile to her. "Howdy sweetheart, did you want to visit me during work?" _What are you up to Mikan?_

"Mhmm, I haven't seen you or Mom since I moved back with my Pops!" Mikan beamed. "I miss hearing your crazy stories involving Krei being Krei and then you'd go 'I don't get paid enough for this' and it involved the craziest stuff! Like the Mad Jacks!"  
"Don't remind me." He chuckled. "I kept having nightmares about jetpacks for weeks thanks to those guys, they didn't even pay me!"

"Oh the horror." She comically rolled her eyes.  
"But, I do have a weird thing today." Steven stroked his chin. "Krei's planning some press meeting about an energy amplifier!" He did jazz hands. "It's fake, but he's doing it to catch Globby, for some reason."  
"Globby eh, is he getting revenge on the globby menace for kidnapping him?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No, something about his wallet." He shrugged. "I think that was on the news? I don't really pay attention when my boss rants, except if it's another one of his dumb ideas so I can plan my 'I told you so' speech."

"Wow. That's sad."  
"Tell me about it." He patted her head. "Take care of yourself kiddo," but before he continued on his merry way he called out to her. "And Mikan?"  
"Yes?"  
"You're special to me, Sally, and your siblings. So whatever's making you act funny or having you can't tell us, know that we care about you and just want to make sure you're happy."  
"I see." She frowned. "Bye Steven."  
"Bye sweetheart."

* * *

Mikan sighed as she heard him leave. Her hand clutched her chest as she felt the burning remorse for what she was doing. _At least he told me about the meeting so I can warn Globby before-No wait! Why am I hesitating?_

_I'm doing this for dad, he's almost done his plans. But why won't he tell me?_

_Is it because I'm not good enough? He hasn't told the others either, not even Trina!_

_What does Hiro have that's so special Pops is needing him for his plans?_

_Why can't I be good enough for my dad?_

A sob from her throat as she just couldn't answer those questions.

* * *

" _Hiro._ "  
 _Waddle-waddle-waddle_

" _Hiro._ "  
"Mrow!"

Groaning, Ari stirred. "What's with all the noise?" She rubbed her tired eyes and saw Baymax standing over Hiro's bed, but her brother was not asleep. "Goshdarnit he's in the garage again!" _Stupid energy amplifier, can he at least TRY to work at a healthy pace?!_ She was brought out of her thoughts when seeing Baymax waddle down the stairs. "Wait! Where are you going Baymax?"  
" _The garage. It is time for the press conference._ " Baymax told her.  
"Oh. The thing Fred was planning." She realized. A part of her suspected Hiro would skip to continue working on the amplifier. "Promise you'll be careful buddy!"  
Baymax turned to her. " _I will promise to be careful_."  
"Great!" She gave him two thumbs up. "Love ya Baymax!"

The robot gave her a thumbs up back and waddled down the stairs.

* * *

_Later…_

"OH NO, POOR BAYMAX!"

" _Shhhh!_ Keep it down Ari!"  
"What the heck happened at that stupid press conference?!"  
"Globby happened Ari. Globby, and Noodle Burger Boy."  
"Joy."

Ari had started getting anxious when seeing the press conference being broadcasted on the tv. What made it worse was that not only Globby appeared, but NBB too! She almost cried seeing the former customer happiness robot wreck Krei-Tech and endanger everyone there without a thought. _What did that Obake guy do to a perfectly wholesome robot?!_ She whined. But what scared her is seeing Hiro check Baymax for injuries, and her brother had several bruises from crashing the moped at Globby.

"Why didn't you go in the first place?" Ari groaned. "The plan might have worked it if you did!" They would've caught Globby, find Obake and stop him from whatever he's doing in the dark. And maybe, _maybe,_ they'd be able to stop him. Because if not... _I really don't wanna know what'll happen if Mikan finds out we know she's a mole._

"Well I had to perfect the amplifier!" Hiro had a grin that chilled her to the bone. "And take a look at this beauty!"  
He held out a metallic and purple object, the amplifier, restored to its glory and functioning.

* * *

_Meanwhile with the villains…_

"Thank you for the warning that the conference was a trap." Her father placed a hand on Mikan's shoulder, it felt so cold it burned her skin.

"You knew that, didn't you?" She sighed.  
"Well yes. The others should be coming back right now." Obake had a villainous grin. "Feel free to greet them when they return."  
She sighed. "Fine." And walked to the entrance where Globby was bragging about his success to Momakase who looked like she was about to murder the glob monster. NBB was the only one who greeted her presence.  
" _Howdy Mika!_ " The small robot hopped up to her. " _We gave the superheroes our special delivery! Hee-hee-hee!_ "  
"That's… great." She weakly pumped up a fist. "Did you get the amplifier?"  
"Sure did!" Globby grinned, he attempted to open it but it was difficult. "Let me just… it's a little... uhg!" His globby hands were only clamping up the locks.  
"Let me do it." Momakase swiped the briefcase and set it on the floor. Without any effort she slashed the top of it open with her graphene katana and it fell to the floor.

"That's not an amplifier..." Mikan noted. There was just a photo from "Fredzilla" in there.

"Obake will not like this."  
"Actually-" Mikan almost jumped up hearing her father's voice. "I'm thrilled. Everything went exactly as planned."

"I don't get it." Globby shrugged.

"Of course you don't." Her father turned away from the glob monster. "Krei's pack of simpletons couldn't finish the job. I need the services of someone truly gifted."

As the left side of his face glowed, Mikan felt fear from her father for the very first time.

* * *

As Ari saw Hiro demonstrate the energy amplifier and the right side of his face glowed violet, she felt pure fear. Not out of worry, but fear _from_ him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang we're here. It's been like a year and we're at CtC!
> 
> *confetti noises* 
> 
> I'll make it short this week since irl stuff is weighing me down. Hiro is being a dumb noodle, Ari plz stop him, Mikan no--
> 
> Fun for the whole gang! 


	55. Chapter 54: (Countdown to Catastrophe) Mikan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh jeez there goes the energy amplifier wait what Mikan no Mikan don't do that MIKAN NO--

" _Here's what happened last time, Hiro and Baymax stopped Globby from stealing something from Krei-Tech-"  
_ " _What on earth are you doing Fred?"  
_ " _Oh, I'm narrating what happened in the last chapter of Heroes of Flowers! You should try it Rach!"  
_ " _And there goes the fourth wall-eh sure. The thing they found was an old energy amplifier, why Krei kept it, who knows."  
_ " _Mhmm, that was a good thing. But Hiro didn't have a proposal for his final project. That was bad."  
_ " _Oof."  
_ " _Oof indeed. Honey Lemon and Wasabi found a clue in Shimamoto's journal-"  
_ " _When did that happen? I don't remember reading that.."  
_ " _It was in the original episode! It would just be a rehash of the scene on paper, we need less of that!"  
_ " _Oh. Right, you have a point. So Sienna Kline followed them to her lab and found a wax cylinder, I'll make sure to see that at the open house."  
_ " _Same! Back at school, Hiro came up with a final project, build an energy amplifier."  
_ " _Granville and his own-even Ari said no and he's still doing it!"  
_ " _We set a trap for Globby but Hiro was too busy working, so he sent Baymax on his own. Not cool!"  
_ " _I'm guessing things went bad."  
_ " _Yes. Very. Globby turned into a dinosaur which was cool, but Noodle Burger boy showed up with his dumpling Buddy Guards, being chased by flying laser shooting dumplings is a nightmare I had once!"  
_ " _Wow, must be nice having that as the only thing in your nightmares."  
_ " _So Hiro finally saved the day, or did he?"  
_ " _Meanwhile with the Fern Family, Mikan and David are still acting weird. Sara is a concerned sister and Sally and Steven are just concerned parents. Mikan is debating which side she's on, her father's or her siblings."  
_ " _Please don't remind me, I'm scared Mikan is gonna choose the wrong side."  
_ " _Fine. Will Mikan choose her father's side? Is Ari gonna complain about Hiro's final project? How will everyone react to Shimamoto's message? Find out now, in this chapter of Heroes of Flowers!"  
_ " _Wow. You do narration pretty good, Rach."  
_ " _Thanks Fred, it's a hobby."_

* * *

"That's all for today students, you make sure to study tonight's notes, and continue working on your semester projects." Sally told the class. "You are dismissed."  
She saw her students give collective sighs of relief as she ended her lecture and raced to be first out. Yes, she pushed her classes somewhat, but knew they were capable of handling her course. _I might as well see if my son needs any help with his project, he has been getting help from Mikan, Sara, and Steven, might as well make it a family effort_. But as she walked down the Robotics labs, she saw an irritated Granville.  
"Professor Granville?" Her words brought the dean out of her thoughts.  
"Oh, Sally." She greeted her. "You don't have to call me professor anymore, you haven't been a student in years."  
"Old habits die hard." Sally chuckled. "Something on your mind?"  
"Yes." Granville nodded. "It's Mr. Hamada, he seems to not have any idea for the open house, and he's hiding something."  
"Hmm, yes." Sally frowned, mentally wondering why there had been a frequency of kids hiding stuff. "Perhaps I'll talk to him, I always was hip and trendy with the kids!"

Granville gave her a long and dry look. "You wound me Professor, you really do." She dramatically exclaimed. That brought a smile on her face.

"You can try to talk to him, Sally, but I hope he'll pull through for the open house." They exchanged goodbyes and Sally detoured over to Hiro's lab.

She opened the door to hear. "She wants results? I'll give her results." And Hiro holding a-

"What is that?" She gasped. Hiro immediately yelped and deactivated the amplifier and hid it behind his back.  
"Nothing its-it's nothing!" He lied. She just gave him a cold stare.  
"Let's just talk." Sally pulled up a chair, she noticed the healthcare companion on the side of the room was eyeing her for some reason. "I know that's an energy amplifier." She felt cold at the memory.

"Fine, you caught me." Hiro sighed. "I built one to prove Granville wrong at the open house." He held it out. "It works, and nobody got hurt!"  
"I'm assuming you heard the trials and errors Krei-Tech did while building one?" He nodded. Sally just pinched the bridge of her nose. "My husband was part of that team trying to make one when he first employed at Krei-Tech, I had half a mind to sue the company when he came back one day with burns all over his arms."  
Hiro frowned. _Krei said nobody got hurt though._ "Were there any..."  
"No, no one got seriously hurt. At least Alistair had the common decency to cancel before anyone could." Sally had a dark look on her face. "I knew someone who tried to make one, and his own arrogance was his downfall."

Hiro's eyes widened with horror. Baymax merely blinked at her.

"I'm not going to snitch, but know this." Sally gave him a serious glare. "Nothing good comes out of doing things out of spite, and you should probably work on something else. Like maybe revamping your microbot project."  
Hiro just sighed, and nodded. "I'm still gonna do it. This-" He held out the amplifier. "Can help so many people."  
Sally knew she wasn't going to change his mind, but best she could do was not force him into his ways. She made that mistake too many times. "Alright, I hope that you're right." And she left him be.

The weird glances Baymax was giving her sent chills up her spine, why was it so creepy yet familiar?

* * *

Gogo held up the wax cylinder. "So you just took this?"

"We left a lot of notes."  
"And we wiped everything down."  
"To erase your fingerprints?" She asked Wasabi.  
"No, just to tidy up." He replied. "Maybe."  
 _Ding-dong!_

"Oooh that must be Sienna with the phonograph!" Honey Lemon squealed, she rushed towards the door and opened. "Hi Sienna! Oh, hi David! Didn't see you there."  
"Hey Honey Lemon." Sienna waved, she was accompanied by her boyfriend, they were holding hands. David was holding the phonograph in another one of his hands.

"Came to watch, plus I haven't hung with you guys in forever!" David chuckled. "I've been so mopey over my mom that I'm being a bad friend, I feel bad about that."

"Well you've been hanging with Mikan a lot." Wasabi commented, which got him a punch to the shoulder by Gogo.

"Yeah, she's… she's been helping me with that." David chuckled.  
"Is she doing fine?" Honey Lemon asked. "We're just concerned since you two seem to be spending less time around Sara."

David frowned, he opened his mouth to speak but stopped.  
"Okay enough sappy stuff," Sienna placed the phonograph on the table. "Hand me the wax cylinder please."

Gogo handed it to her without a response. "Ohh this is so exciting!" Honey Lemon exclaimed as Sienna placed it inside the phonograph. "For the first time ever, Lenore Shimamoto, in her own words."  
"Hopefully she didn't record it in French." David teased, but Sienna then jabbed his shoulder. "What? I was kidding."  
"Very funny." She gave him a peck on the cheek. Honey Lemon winded up the phonograph, but only garbled words played.

"Are we sure those are words?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm, something's not right." The chemist frowned.

"Did you clean the wax cylinder before playing it?" David suggested. A round of facepalms answered his question. "Guess not..."  
Wasabi curled his lip at how filthy the cylinder was. "Uhg, that is nasty."

"Yeah. A hundred years worth of dirt and dust will do that." Gogo commented.  
Honey Lemon facepalmed again. "Oh my gosh I should've done that first! Sorry guys!"

"It's okay Honey." Gogo placed a hand on her shoulder, she smiled at the comforting gesture.

They then watched as Wasabi pulled out a suitcase from his backpack. "Good thing I brought my detergency kit." He grinned, opening it up to reveal various cleaning tools. "The key is to have the proper tool for the job."  
"What are you talking about." David crossed his arms.

"The hummingbird!" Wasabi pulled out a small automatic duster. "I knew it would come in handy one day."

"We have to have it ready for the open house tomorrow."

"The hummingbird Honey Lemon, tiny but mighty."

He then activated it, and got to work cleaning the cylinder. The dust started flying off with ease.

"Cool." Sienna gasped, "it's like magic!"  
David coughed as the dust flew in his face and he jumped back. "You should come over to our house when it's spring cleaning."  
"Impressive."  
They all stared at Gogo. "What? I'm being sincere."  
"Really?" Wasabi beamed.  
"Well, not completely, like 80%."

"That's really not bad Wasabi." Honey Lemon patted his shoulder.

"Can I ask why you have a cleaning kit you carry around like that?" Sienna asked. "Kind of an odd hobby."  
"It's a stress-relieving hobby!" Wasabi told her. "Cleaning and organizing helps me with my anxiety."  
"Huh, cool." She grinned. "I like tidying up my dorm room when I'm stressed, we should hang out more."

"Cool."  
"Coolio."

"Yay you're bonding." David pumped up a fist. "Now all I need to do is finish my stupid semester project for the open house! Uhg stupid solar panel project! I hate the sun!"  
Gogo snickered. "You turn into a vampire, Dave?"  
"Very funny." He groaned. "But I feel like death, I've been helping Mika with hers a bit since she's got her head in the clouds."

"Well you guys might be awhile so I'll just leave my phonograph here." Sienna stretched her shoulders. "We'll be goin, c'mon David. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat while it's still day out."

Her boyfriend lit up at what she was implying. "Oh yeah sure, bye guys!" He waved to the trio, who waved back.  
"Bye David!"  
"Byyye guys, have fun!"  
"Bye."

* * *

She held his hand as they exited the apartment. "Before we pick out a place to eat, I wanna talk to you."  
He gulped nervously. "About?"

"You have been spending a lot of time with Mikan, shouldn't you be at peace about what happened to your mom at this point?"

"Well, yes." David felt his mouth go dry, he couldn't tell Sienna the truth. " _Think about how much danger Sienna could be if she knew! Big Hero 6 might arrest her too, they take their jobs too seriously after all._ " He heard Mika's voice in his ear. "She's been going through a lot too."  
"Is there a reason why you can't tell me?" Sienna sighed. "You told me who your mom was, and I told you about my parents. What's stopping you now?"  
"I'm… nervous, and I want to but I can't."  
"Is it because Mikan told you not to? She won't find out." A slow and scared nod answered her. "I don't think that's healthy, for you to be forced to hide something because she doesn't want you to."  
"I know." David frowned. "But it's complicated, and she keeps saying it's good for me and Sara, but I think it's because her dad told her it's good for us. I just hope reality slaps her in the face soon. She keeps scaring me! I don't like being scared of her!"

He suddenly felt the warmth of Sienna's lips touching his own, the pleasant feeling soothed him. "We don't have to talk about this right now." she stroked his hair. "Now do you want to grab a bite? My treat."  
"Can we go to that pizza place that has the robot mascot? I liked it even though it's a kid's place."  
"Of course. Being in a kid's place with you is better than being in a diner by myself."

* * *

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: So excited for the open house! HYPE!  
Fredzilla: HYPE

Ariel Rosemary: HYPE

Rachel Rosemary: Oh the open house for your school? Coolio

Ariel Rosemary: Hey Rach can you come : D?

Rachel Rosemary: What kind of friend would you think I am?

Fredzilla: Yes! My partner in crime is coming to the Open House!  
Gogo: Oh no

Wasabi: When did that happen?!

Rachel Rosemary: Long story. Involves Noodle Burgers

Ariel Rosemary: And you didn't invite ME?

Fredzilla: You weren't there. Oh btw Hiro and I are at the docks, can you meet us there?

Ariel Rosemary: Sure.

* * *

Ari felt her eyes bulging from her sockets when she got to the docks.  
"WHAT THE HECK?!" It was a giant Kentucky Kaiju! "FRED!"  
The comic fan (and Hiro and Baymax) were in the cockpit. "Hey Ari! Check out my brand new Kaiju!" He held a finger. "This time with great failsafes so last time doesn't happen!"  
"You mean to tell me YOU'RE the one responsible for the giant robot attack that time?!" Ari exclaimed, then realized she was standing next to Heathcliff, the butler wincing at her loud volume. "Sorry."

He didn't seem bothered. "Quite alright Ms. Rosemary."  
"Well technically it was Noodle Burger Boy's fault." Fred chuckled. "He's not gonna get the kaiju this time!"  
"Probably should warn you, this might be a bad idea." Hiro turned to Fred, holding his amplifier in his hands.

"This might be a bad idea, is my middle name!" He exclaimed as Hiro plugged in the energy amplifier and kaiju's eyes turned purple.  
 _Oh no._ Ari realized what was gonna happen.

"Watch this sis!" Hiro exclaimed from the comms. "We're gonna take this to the skiiIIIIIEEEESSS!" He yelped as the kaiju jumped up in the air so high she could barely see them.

And then it came crashing down. Heathcliff held up an umbrella as his shield against the wave looming over them, Ari screeched as she got pelted by water.

The poor butler had an octopus and several scallops covering his body, while Ari had-

"EW EEL!" She instantly bended the water to push the slimy creature back into the depths. "God why! So gross!" She then dried her and Heathcliff off. But then paused upon seeing Fred's gasping reaction. _Oh shoot, I didn't tell the others yet._

"OH MY GOD YOU HAVE-" Fred's outburst was covered by Hiro's hand, followed by him and Baymax shushing the excited comic fan.

"Sorry." He composed himself for a moment. Just a moment. "But when was this?! Why didn't you tell me?!"  
"It happened around Wasabi's birthday and I forgot." She shrugged. "I'll probably tell the others after the open house, or after the whole Obake thing is cleared up. Whichever comes first."  
"Okay. I promise to not say a word."  
"You said that about Big Hero 6, and guess who found out?"  
"It was one time!"

Hiro snickered at the exchange.

* * *

"And they said it was impossible?" Hiro scoffed, he was at school to deposit the amplifier at his lab. When morning comes, he'll bring it to the open house.

" _It was off the charts._ " Baymax added, he grinned at the robot's encouraging words.

"And nobody got hurt! Except a vending machine and my phone." He chuckled.  
"What was that?" His sister narrowed her eyes.  
"Nothing important!" He placed the amplifier in a drawer. "I can't wait to see the look on Granville's face when I prove her wrong."

"Speaking of that Hiro," he turned to Ari. "Sorry for doubting you, I just was scared you'd get… hurt."  
"Oh it's okay Ari." He waved her off. "I know you care, don't worry. I promise nobody will get hurt at the open house."

* * *

_The next morning…_

"Feels like just yesterday Tadashi was going to his first open house." Ari watched as Cass placed a plate of pancakes with a smile next to Hiro, and hugged him. "And now here you are. I'm so proud of you!"  
"Thanks Aunt Cass. I think you're gonna be impressed."  
"I am!" Ari added with a grin. "I've never been to an open house!" As both teens dug into their breakfasts, Baymax scanned the area.

" _My scan has detected Obake._ "  
Both of them spat out their food in shock.

Cass was oblivious to the context. "What's an Obake?"  
"Uh, Obake Hunt. It's a… it's a game." Hiro got up his chair and began dragging Baymax through the door. "I gotta go catch me some Obakes! Baymax let's go." He tripped as he shoved the robot out the door.

"Good luck catching your Obakes!"  
Ari snickered as she sipped her orange juice nervously. _He's gonna need all the luck in the world catching "that" Obake._

Her nerves were still there as her and Cass got to the open house. "I'm sure Hiro's done with his Obake Hunt and is here by now." Cass patted her shoulder.

Ari just glanced away, in the corner of her eye she saw Mikan. The snow-haired girl was acting… quiet as she stood by her project. "That's not what I'm worried about." _No! You gotta trust Mikan. She's not gonna do anything here, Obake will be caught soon and Hiro will arrive and everything will be fine. You're not gonna ruin it again Ari._ She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go chat with my friends, is that okay?"

"Of course." Cass let go of hand as she began walking to where Hiro was probably stationed. "Have fun!"  
"Thanks!"

* * *

"Hi Professor Granville." Ari sheepishly waved to the dean who was at the event with her clipboard. "How's grading?"  
"It's going fine." The dean smiled at her. "How are you?"  
"I'm fine." They were interrupted when a specific green-haired ukulele playing woman bounced up to them.

" _I love science fairs don't you too?_ " Wendy Wower sang. " _Professor Granville ooh!_ " She tried going for a hug but Granville ducked out of the way.  
"Dr. Wower!" Ari squealed, giving her childhood hero a tight hug.

"Little Ari! It's nice to see you again." The scientist gave her a tight hug back. "I sure hope your memory problems are better."  
"They are!" She beamed. "I'm doing a lot better!"  
"That's great!" Wendy beamed. "It's always great that my woweroos are doing so well!"

"So glad you could join us Dr. Wower." Granville had a warm smile at the heartfelt exchange. The dean and the former student shook hands.  
"You know, Professor, you were actually the inspiration behind my TV character." Wendy told the dean, who raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Is that right?" She nodded. "That's very flattering."  
Ari giggled with amusement.

* * *

"Hey Ari!" Her ears perked up as she saw Karmi by her project, and alongside her was-

"Oh hi again Ms. Amara." She shyly waved at the CEO. "And hi too Karmi." There was a red blush on her cheeks.

Karmi snickered at her admiring as Liv shook hands with her. "It's great to see you again Ariel, shame I couldn't fix your amnesia problem."  
"Eh." She shrugged. "I don't care about my old memories anymore, I'm making new ones every day!"  
"That's a rather optimistic outlook." Karmi smiled. "We should hang out more since I'm going to be interning at Sycorax next semester, which is a dream come true."  
"And I'm so happy for you!" Ari grinned. "Shame we won't be able to hang more."  
Liv then spoke up. "You can always visit during Karmi's working hours, I wouldn't mind seeing you again soon. You are a very wonderful enigma."  
"Aww thanks!" She then turned to Karmi's project, which was a bright pink rose. "What's this?"  
"My project!" Karmi boasted. "Take a look."

Ari squinted, she could faintly see mechanical stuff in the flower, but Liv had a keener eye. "You created an electric circuit inside the rose?"  
Karmi nodded. "I filled the xylem-"  
"With a conductive polymer. Wow, Karmi, this could give a whole new meaning to-"

"Power plants." Both biotech majors said at the same time, and both laughed at the joke. But stopped when seeing Krei laugh behind them, all three of them looked as he awkwardly walked away.

"Steven's not gonna be happy seeing his boss here." Ari commented. "Krei better hope he doesn't run into Sara first, or else."  
"Agreed." Karmi nodded. "I'm pretty sure she'd bash him on the head with a frying pan and hide his body under the quad."

There was an awkward silence.

"Yeah that's more of a Mikan thing, they both scare me."

Ari could only nod in agreement, especially at the latter.

* * *

"Well, well, well." She turned to see Rachel leaning by the wall, and a blue-furred feline sticking out of her purse. "How's the open house? I can't wait to see what some of the student's have cooked up."  
"It's doing great!" Ari beamed. "I'm mostly worried and anxious about my brother's project, so many things can go wrong!"  
"Oof." Katie snorted. "Was it a last-minute thing?" She got bonked on the head as a result.

"I know that feeling." Rachel had a twinkle in her eyes. "Whenever my brother got one of his dumb ideas, I always came up with fifty doomsday scenarios."  
Ari frowned. "Your brother?  
She saw the scruffy brunette's smile fade. "My older brother. People don't talk about him because we're 'not really related' since we don't share blood, and he doesn't make his presence known online n' stuff. He's not here anymore."  
"Oh... I'm so sorry."  
"It's okay. I'll see him again one day." Katie then hopped onto Rachel's shoulder and nuzzled her. "He used to take me to these kinds of events."  
She bid her goodbye, not wanting to worsen her mood.

* * *

"Hey-hey-hey, it's my favorite Ari!" Sara noogied her. "How's it going? You likin' what we have in store?"  
"I'll say!" She glanced at David's solar project, and Sara's A.I project. "It must've taken you guys AGES!'  
"Yes. And I died." David dramatically exclaimed, Sienna chuckled.  
"Oh dear, I guess I'll have to move on and find a new boyfriend." She teased. "Maybe that Josh fellow that Sara's friends with."  
That caused him to leap up. "No wait! I live because of your love!"

They both giggled. "My prince charming." Sienna kissed him.

Sara made a gagging face. "Too much sappiness."  
"You're one to talk since you've got the biggest crush on Wasab-"  
"DAVID!" She started whacking him. Ari giggled with laughter.

"I'm gonna go check Honey Lemon's display." She told them. "I think it's gonna start soon, wanna come?"  
"Sure!" The three of them exclaimed. And they all began heading over.

* * *

Sally could only boast with pride as she saw her kids teasing one another at the open house. However, Mikan's interactions seemed _forced_ to her. The way her lips would curl into a frown when the others didn't notice, the dull expression in her eyes, the forced laughter. She knew Mikan didn't feel emotions very strongly, but she knew when she was making an effort or not.

A gloved hand clasping her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey Sal." Wendy greeted her. "How have you been?"  
"Same job, same complaining students." She teased. "How have you been since you got the credit you deserved?"  
"It's honestly been amazing." Wendy smiled. "I've gotten a lot of woweroo fans! And t-shirts!"  
"No way? Really!"  
"Yep!" Sally felt her childhood enthusiasm always returned when interacting with Wendy, she just had that magic touch of eternal youth.

"Say, remember our first open house?" Sally hummed. "Trevor was late as always, I was a self-loathing wreck, you were being the mom, and Bobby-" She flinched. "Bobby was in his own little world."  
"Yeah." Wendy's smile faltered. "He always was in his personal bubble, it's a miracle he interacted with us. And Granville too. Remember you both used to call her 'mom' all the time?"  
"In my defence, I didn't have a mom so how was I supposed to know what a mom was like?" Sally pointed out. "Not even after I remembered having one I still kept calling Granville 'mom.'"  
"Do you still do that?"  
Sally blushed. "Occasionally, don't tell my kids that. I have a reputation as the fiercest teacher who drinks her students' tears."  
Wendy giggled at her dramatic statement. "You always were the diva and the troublemaker of the group."  
"You should've seen what Steven and _his_ college buddies got up to."

* * *

"Wow! Honey Lemon, all the big dawgs showed up to see your final project!" Fred exclaimed upon seeing the big crowd by her display.

"Big dawgs?" Gogo frowned. "No, no, don't say that."

"But I like big dawgs. Gogo, who doesn't like big dawgs?"  
Honey Lemon was anxiously glancing left and right for a familiar head of dreadlocks. "Where's Wasabi with the wax cylinder?"  
Speaking of the devil, the crowd parted as he moved his way over to the front, the wax cylinder in his hands. "Excuse me, pardon me." He sighed when he got to the front. "Sorry it took so long. I pushed the hummingbird to it's limit." Wasabi then showed her a gleaming gold cylinder.

She gasped with joy. "Thank you Wasabi!" And hugged him.

Gogo popped her gum. "Nice one."

Honey Lemon then turned to the crowd, wax cylinder in hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, for my final project, I am unravelling the mystery of Lenore Shimamoto's secret work as a scientist."

"I bet she did it for fortune." She heard Mikan whisper to her siblings, who comically rolled their eyes.  
"I believe I have found the key. A recording made by Lenore Shimamoto herself!" She gestured to the wax cylinder.  
"Are you sure this is authentic?" Granville questioned.  
"Uh-huh, it was hidden in her lab." She explained. "I believe she wanted a future generation to find it, and now we have." She then placed the cylinder in the phonograph, and it played. "We will be the first people to hear her speak in over a century." Honey Lemon was grinning from ear to ear.  
" _April 4th, 1907._ " A woman's voice spoke from the phonograph, it was Lenore's voice! Several audience members gasped with excitement. " _If you are listening to this, then you have proven yourself clever enough to follow the clues I left._ "  
"Nerd power, for the win." Wasabi gave a thumbs up.

" _Undoubtedly, you have discovered the diagram under my painting, City Rising. I preserved it for study only. Do not let yourself be tempted by blind ambition. To recreate my work will lead you down a pitch-dark path._ " That's when the audience began to murmur and worry, wondering where this recording was going. " _I built a machine which I thought would create a source of unlimited power. However that's not what happened. My invention was responsible for..._ "  
The audience awaited the answer with baited breath.

" _I am responsible for the Great Catastrophe._ "  
The audience members gasped with horror.  
"What?" Ari squeaked.  
"That's impossible..." Sienna was in shock, Sara and David held her arms in comfort.

Mikan said nothing, but she raised an eyebrow.

" _The destruction, the devastation. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry._ " Honey Lemon started winding the phonograph in shock, there had to be more to the story, there had to be!

But silence followed, and she looked up to see the horrified and shocked faces of her audience, what turned into a hopeful discovery became a despairing truth.

"Well that was dark." Fred commented.

* * *

_Meanwhile with Hiro and Baymax and their "Obake Hunt"-_

Electricity buzzed as Hiro entered the old building, Baymax following behind him. They had to hurry since Obake was about to leave. He saw the man's shadow as he crept in. "Give it up Obake, there's nowhere to run."

"My dear Hiro, why would I run when you're exactly where I want you." He turned around to reveal-

"A bot. It's not the real Obake!" He yelped as the metal arm grabbed him and pushed Baymax into the wall, the ceiling crashing from the blow.  
" _Oh no._ "

He then yelped as the arm tried grabbing him instead. Luckily he was able to grab the arm but his grip was slipping. "Baymax, rocket fist!" he commanded. Baymax fired and he let go of the arm, it whacked the bot and it hit the wall. The rocket fist then hit the Obake-bot right in the face.

"Baymax, are you okay?" Hiro turned to the healthcare companion.

" _My damage is minimal._ " He replied.

The Obake-bot faced him as sparks flew, it gave him chills. "Thank you for playing." And it combusted and fell to the ground.

"I don't get it. How did a bot confuse your scanners?"

" _I am uncertain._ "

The bot whirred as it spun it's head, creeping him out. "Well done Hiro. Unfortunately for you, I kept you busy just long enough..."  
"Kept me busy?" He frowned. "From what?" Then he gasped with realization. "The open house!"

* * *

"I can't believe it." Sally stared at the painting of Lenore Shimamoto, the crowd had dispersed, half of them too shocked to speak as they stumbled around the rest of the open house. "She was responsible for it all."

"Indeed." Granville nodded. "Your niece Sara looks up to Shimamoto, how is she taking this?"  
"She's more worried about my son's girlfriend, poor gal is in pieces." Sally frowned. "I'm glad my kids can support each other. Just like how I had supported others back when I was a student."  
"I believe you were the one who was being supported, Sal." Both women gasp with shock at the sound of a familiar voice. They turned around to see Obake himself. "Hello, Professor." He greeted Granville.  
"Bobby." Sally gasped, Granville had a more shocked reaction.  
"Bob? Bob Aken?" Her eyes widened.  
"In the flesh." He grinned.

"I… I haven't seen you since..." She trailed off.  
"Since my little accident?"  
"Accident?" Sally frowned. "You almost died!"  
"What… what happened back then…" She frowned at the memory of the incident. "I'm sorry."  
He shook his finger. "Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh. Sorry for what?" Obake raised an eyebrow. "You did exactly what was best for me. What was it you used to say?"  
"You can't hold back genius." Sally lamented.

"A philosophy I've come to regret." Granville frowned.

"A pity." His hand brushed over the phonograph. "Your current proteges deserve to be afforded the same creative freedom."

"There's a difference in 'creative freedom' and 'being reckless' Bobby." Sally pointed out. "I don't know what kind of practicing you preach especially to Mikan, but just-"  
"Just how all your crazy schemes nearly ended in disaster?" Obake interrupted. "Say, can Steven, Wendy, Trevor, and I say we came out unscathed?"  
Sally merely glared at him.  
"Or should I mention your husband's friend, does she still detest you?"  
"Bringing up old grudges isn't doing anyone any favors." Sally huffed. "The past is the past."

"Can your family say the same?"  
That shook her, her golden eyes widened. "I-I... It wasn't my fault.."

"They all say the same thing." He turned his attention back to Granville. "You know professor, you made me the man I am today." The left side of his face glowed, the mark of that disastrous night.

Granville gasped with horror seeing the violet colored damage, _her_ damage.

"Wonderful to see you two again." He brushed past them. As he went on his way, he passed by Gogo's display, the rest of her friends sitting next to her trying to process what they just heard.  
"Fascinating presentation Honey Lemon." They turned their heads, and Honey Lemon herself gasped.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Wasabi's eyes widened.  
"Totally! That kid stole my sparklers idea!" Fred didn't notice and pointed to a display with sparklers.  
"No, there!" Gogo pointed to Obake heading for the robotics labs.  
"Obake's here?" He gasped. "Obake's here!" They then started running after him, but a purple blob leapt and blocked their way.

"And he's not alone." Honey Lemon realized.

Globby formed, a nearby student dropped her phone and gasped. He took offense to that. "Jeez, lady, didn't your parents ever teach you it's rude to scream at strangers?" He then threw a glob at her, covering her mouth, that caused a chain reaction of students screaming.

Two other villains then entered, slamming open a door as the student body panicked. " _Howdy and hello! Can we take your order?_ " NBB exclaimed.

"Now it's a party." Momakase grinned.

The four of them glared as they called their Skymaxes. "Uh-oh." Fred grimaced. "All the bad dawgs showed up."

* * *

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"  
"EVERY STUDENT FOR THEMSELVES!"  
"MY PROJECT!" That was David who screamed. Mikan huffed at all the chaos. It was all part of the plan, she just had to do her part.

"C'mon Dave!" She grabbed his arm. "We gotta go!"

"B-but Sienna!" David frowned. "I gotta find Sienna!"  
"She already got out, she's safe." Mikan told him. She had seen his girlfriend running out the door herself. "Let's find Sara and book it!"  
It was hard to find their sister with NBB firing lasers and throwing tables, Momakase slicing everyone's projects, and Globby in his dinosaur form stomping on everything. It felt straight out of Jurassic Park.

"Guys!" They turned as Sara ran up to them, Ari was behind her. _Darnit._  
"This is nuts!" Ari exclaimed, "I'm glad you guys are fine!"  
"Well we gotta go." Mikan told them, but there was still one thing she had to do. "Meet me by the quad, I'll make sure everyone gets out just run!"  
Her siblings nodded and ran out the door, with Ari glancing anxiously at the destruction. _Perhaps she's hoping her brother and the rest of them will save the day. Yeah right._

She snickered as she saw the security-bots crawl up to the villains. "Bring it on!" Globby tried eating one but it just sliced him in half, reverting him back to his humanoid form. Momakase then sliced the one that cut him.

"You are terrible at this, aren't you?" She told the glob monster. Then Big Hero 6 leapt into the scene. _Uch._

"Granville's security bots. Sweet!" Fred exclaimed. "Give them some room to do their thang!"

Their "thang" did not happen as Momakase cut all the bots down.

"Thang? Really?" Gogo narrowed her eyes at Fred.

The supervillains took battle stances, grinning maliciously.

She popped her gum. "Let's… dance!"  
" _You've got it mister!_ " NBB then started dancing. " _Come on everybody, do the Noodle, do the Noodle, do the Noodle a-hey!_ "  
The superheroes exchanged glances.

" _Come on everybody, do the Noodle-_ "  
"Noodle THIS!" Gogo made the first strike, hitting him with her disks and the clash happened. Mikan saw the last student exit and she ran out.

The others were by the quad as she said, they were the only ones there. The sounds of destruction from the open house were heard clearly.  
"Mika!" Sara and David hugged her, while Ari merely glared.

"We're glad you're okay!" Sara grinned.  
"Yeah." Mikan darkly chuckled. "I wouldn't have gotten hurt."  
"I bet you know." Ari spoke up, her blue eyes burning with anger. "Because you knew this was going to happen, didn't you?!"  
Her siblings gave shocked gasps. "Ari!" Sara exclaimed.  
"Don't accuse Mika like that!" David frowned, but nodded. "Wait she probably did know-"  
"Shut up David!" Mikan cut him off. _I'm going to kill Trina for letting that slip, Hiro snitched to her, didn't he?_ "I'm afraid Ari, that you know too much for your own good. Shame that villain fellow failed to recapture you."  
That threw her for a loop. "What's that supposed to-"  
 _WHAM!_

Mikan had hit her on the head, knocking her out cold. Both Sara and David gasped with horror.  
"Mika..." Sara pleaded. "Don't do this, c'mon I know you're going through something but-"  
She snickered. "Oh Sara, Sara, Sara, I'm doing this for you both."

"You're doing it for Obake! You're doing it for your dad!" David hissed.  
She rolled her eyes. "Wow, offended much bro? Well since you two are too emotional I guess I have to drag you both back myself. I was supposed to get David only, but since we're siblings, I'll make an exception for you sis."

Before they reacted, she both knocked them out. _It's gonna be a pain bringing them back. But at least they can sit back and watch as Pops finally tells me his great futuristic plan._

_He just needs the key, and Hiro._

* * *

Ari awoke to a crash, her head pounding. She heard faint singing and a "please, stop!" As her eyes opened. She looked up and saw to her horror, Baymax had crashed to the ground, goop covering his thrusters.

She ran to her brother who was rubbing his head. "Hiro!" She exclaimed.

"Are you guys okay?" She saw Honey Lemon and the others walk up to them and check them for injuries.

" _We are without injury._ " Baymax told them.

"Ari?" Hiro turned to her, "I thought you got out."  
"I did but..." She sniffled, "Mikan happened."  
"Oh no." Gogo frowned.  
"She knew this was happening, knocked me out." Tears rimmed in her eyes. "And poor David and Sara are probably at Obake's super evil lair by now! I knew I should've said something sooner-she caught me off guard!"

"It wasn't your fault." Hiro frowned. "C'mon. Obake got away."

They headed back to Hiro's lab. "Students." They paused as Granville was in the lab. "Is everyone alright?"  
"Ah. We're fine Professor-" Gogo elbowed Fred. "Uhg! I mean, complete stranger whom we've never met."  
"Enough with the charade, Mr. Frederickson!" Granville narrowed her eyes.

"Huh, what?" Hiro stammered. "You know we're-"  
"Big Hero 6?" Granville raised an eyebrow. "I see all."  
They all looked around the room, as if anticipating a news network and reports to come out of nowhere. "Calm down, your secret is safe with me."

Fred was the first one to lift up his hood, then the rest of them took off their helmets. Ari stared silently as she watched them do so. _It must take a lot of willpower to do that._

"My primary concern is why the school was attacked for a third time this semester." Granville asked them.  
"It's because of Mi-"  
"This was all my fault." Hiro spoke up. The others turned to him. "I disobeyed you. I created an energy amplifier." He frowned. "The good news is, it worked."  
"Let me guess the bad news." Gogo sighed.  
"...Obake has it." He looked down.

"Mmmhmm."  
"Obake?" Granville didn't recognize the name.

"Yeah, you know, the creepy guy with the night light in his face?" Fred explained.  
"Also Mikan's dad." The others turned to Ari with wide eyes. "What? She does all her errands for him and Trina looks like him. I'm surprised you guys didn't realize."  
The dean frowned. "Follow me." She gestured to the students. "All of you."

They followed her into her office, as she pulled out a folder. "Obake, once my star student. I knew him as Bob Aken." Hiro grabbed the folder, his fingers covering the name letters to find the "Obake" in Bob Aken.

"Bob Aken..." Ari frowned. "Wait! Is he the 'Bobby' that Sally talked about?" Granville nodded. "Oh my god! Now I know for sure he's Mikan's dad!"  
"In our defence, she doesn't take after him much." Gogo pointed out.  
"That's because Mikan's adopted." Hiro told them. "Trina said that she was the only one related to their dad... Aka Obake." He felt his heart grow heavy at the memory of the bot-fighter.  
"Bob had so many ideas to make the world a better place." The dean lamented. "I encouraged him to explore fearlessly. Unfortunately the path he chose led him to the energy amplifier."

_No wonder you didn't want my brother to do the same..._ Ari thought.

"He was not as successful as Mr. Hamada." Granville thought back to the memory of going through the wreckage and the rubble, finding the unstable device lodged onto the door frame. The same device she once used as a paperweight. "The boy needed limits. I did not provide them. It was a mistake I never wanted to make again." Granville shut her eyes. "However, it seems I have."  
Hiro looked down in sorrow, feeling regret for not listening, for letting his stubborn pride and spite to prove her wrong get in the way of going down the right path. The room was silent, lamenting on the shadow of the past that loomed over them.

Fred cut the tension exclaiming "his real name's Bob?!" They all turned to him.

"That's what surprises you!?" Ari snickered. "Oh my gosh, Fred." They all began giggling.

"Professor Granville," Hiro turned to the dean. "I promise we'll stop Obake." Then he turned to the others. "Meet at my garage tomorrow?"  
"Of course."  
"Yeah! Let's figure out an awesome plan!"  
"Sounds good to me."  
"Yep!"  
"But what about Mikan?" Ari questioned. "Someone has to tell Sally and Steven what happened to her, David, and Sara..."  
"Leave that to me." They turned to Granville. "I hope that Ms. Ferns will see the error of her ways."

_Me to…_ The teen genius of the group thought.

* * *

Hiro and Ari got the Lucky Cat to see, well a mess. Cass was scarfing donuts and mixing batter like a madwoman. But she paused when seeing their faces. "Kids!" She pulled them into a hug, "where have you been?"  
"Ow..." Hiro winced. "Oooh, careful."  
"Ooh, are you hurt?" Cass questioned.  
"A little." Ari sighed.  
"I just got a little banged up in all the chaos at school." Hiro explained.

Cass stared at both of them. Concern in her green eyes. "I got so worried when I couldn't find you both at the open house."  
"Yeah, I'm sorry we showed up late." Hiro looked down. "That must have been really scary."  
"Is Mochi okay?" Ari pouted. "My head hurts, I really need Mochi." She looked to be ten seconds away from a meltdown, the events of the day starting to come crashing down on her.  
"He's by my room." Cass told her, Ari mumbled a "thanks," and bolted to Cass's room to cry her heart out to the calico. "I'm just glad you three are in one piece." She gestured to Hiro and Baymax. "Well three pieces, because there are three of you, but probably didn't need to explain that."  
Hiro just flashed her a smile. "It's okay Aunt Cass." She scooped him up into a hug, but stepped back when he winced again. "I'm just gonna go head upstairs, and try to sleep the pain off."  
She nodded, and he headed up the stairs.

"Ow!" Hiro clutched his sides as he sat down on the bed. But then paused, something was wrong. He turned to Baymax, who was silent. "I said 'ow.'"

Baymax just blinked.

"Uh... alerted to my need for medical attention?"  
Silence.

"Nothing?" He walked up to Baymax, clicking open his access port. "There must be something wrong with..."  
He froze, seeing a third, purple chip alongside the healthcare and superhero chips. "What?" The purple chip had a familiar monster symbol, _Obake's_ symbol. But as he tried to pull it out, a vinyl hand stopped him.

"Baymax?" His eyes widened as the access port closed and the healthcare companion stared at him with eyes that appeared in his nightmares, a constant reminder of his darkest moment.

The red eyes of anger.

* * *

"Hiro was supposed to meet us." Honey Lemon frowned, the others were at the garage. But the teen genius was the only one not present.  
"He wasn't there this morning." Ari added. "I didn't know if he went to bed or not, because I spent the night with Aunt Cass 'cause I was still shaken up about the open house... I'm worried too."  
"It's definitely weird." Fred was staring at the conspiracy wall. "People who make elaborate conspiracy boards are usually pretty reliable."  
"Obake has the magnet from the school." Gogo stood up.  
"And he was doing something in the bay."  
"What if he was turning H20 into D20?" Wasabi questioned.

Gogo turned to the conspiracy wall. "Heavy water. That could be used as fuel."

"I'm confused where this is going." Ari frowned. "But I know that he was using Mikan to spy on us, and she tried driving a wedge between me and Hiro during the robberies."  
Honey Lemon held up a copy of "City Rising" that was taped to the wall. "We know that he was obsessed with Shimamoto." She narrowed her eyes at the photo, then gasped.

"The Great Catastrophe." The others turned to her. "He's trying to recreate the Great Catastrophe!"  
"And he has everything he needs." Gogo realized.  
"Hiro." Ari murmured. "Please be safe…"

* * *

The cold feeling of betrayal was what Hiro felt as Baymax, now in his superhero armor was dragging him to who-knows-where.

He struggled in the robot's iron grip as they flew over the city. "Baymax, you have to listen to me." Hiro pleaded. He tried reaching for the access port, but the robot tilted his head, he flinched at the red eyes.

" _Do not._ " They then reached a cave that was distances away from the city's shore. There was an iron door at the entrance, it opened.

Hiro struggled as Baymax dragged him inside. " _Resistance will result in further injury._ " He stopped, feeling scared of the healthcare companion for the very first time. They then entered the lair, the lair of Obake.

Hiro felt all his nerves shot up as he saw the villains of the hideout, he tried not glancing at Momakase when hearing the sound of her graphene blades cutting up fish. But not looking just made him more nervous.

The tenseness still was there even as he passed by NBB and Globby, who were playing some kind of board game.

" _Golly, mister, I've got a Noodle Supreme with all the fixin's._ "  
"Ah, knock it off with all the fast-food jabber. It's confusing!"

He glanced over with fear, he knew that the two villains could be menacing and he didn't want to know what'll happen if he angered them on their own turf.

But the next person he encountered sent his emotions haywire.

"Hi Hiro."

He turned his head.  
"Trina?" Then screamed as it was just her _head_ staring at him, wires sticking out from the bottom. "Y-Y-You're a…"  
"Robot." He screamed again as her body walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Obviously."  
"Obviously." He repeated as Baymax dragged him away.

"You never figured it out?" Trina chuckled. "That's so pathetic, it's cute."

The last person he ran into just made his blood boil even more.  
"Mikan." He glared with all his fury at the mole, by her side was her sib- _David and Sara_ , all tied up.  
"Hiro." She flashed him an eerie grin. "How do you like my dad's place? Pretty cool, amiright?"  
His only response was to spit on the ground. "Wow, someone's in a bad mood."  
"Your stupid dad mind-controlled Red Panda and had him kidnap Hiro?!" Sara exclaimed. "Not cool sis!"  
In another moment, Hiro would've appreciated Mikan not telling them he was a member of Big Hero 6. But he was too angry to care.

"Seriously!?" David added. "I'm pretty sure Mika is being mind-controlled herself! The Mika I know would never force me to hide anything from Sara or work with villains!"  
"The Mika you know does anything for her siblings." Mikan glared. "Now since you two are being whiny, I have to shove you back in your cells. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about Pop's great plans when I get back."  
The two of them cried protests, and as Baymax dragged Hiro further away he saw Sara giving him a "please be okay," look. He nodded to try and comfort her worries, it wasn't fair that her and her brother were kidnapped too.

Baymax then dragged him to a screen room, it was lit green and full of dozens of screens. And in the room was none other than-

"Hiro Hamada." Obake turned around. "Welcome!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Holds up paw to shield from tomatoes* SORRY NOT SORRY W/ MIKAN
> 
> Before I get more into the AN I just want to say that... well, I haven't been doing good as of late. And not because of personal outside stuff, but lately my commenting on Heroes Of Flowers has been rather slow, or lack there of and it hurts. Now I know not everyone knows what to say for comments, but a simple reaction to an event or "I liked it when x did x" would cheer me up! I don't know how many people read Heroes Of Flowers, but what I do know is that when people comment. It brings me joy. So if you read this fic and you like what it has to offer, just please comment, review, or even just type your reactions. It would reassure me that it's not a waste of my time writing this fic and I could continue writing next installments!
> 
> Now that's out of the way... Oh boy, Mikan why. I can't believe you've done this. I hope none of you thought I was gonna kidnap Ari cuz I'm not "that" mean to her! But David and Sara you two could not escape XD.  
> It hurt writing this, the open house man ;-;. Also the one time I can break the fourth wall is with Fred narration! Feat. Rachel bc I felt like it. Next week wraps this ep up and then the epilogue! I can't believe we've come so far... hopefully the kids can survive CtC to see the end!


	56. Chapter 55: (Countdown to Catastrophe) Her Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the final countdown!

" _Previously on Heroes of Flowers-"  
_ " _Nice intro Rach! So Hiro built his energy amplifier, but he needed something bigger to test it on. Luckily, I rebuilt my Kentucky Kaiju."  
_ " _The one that NBB stole?"  
_ " _Yep. Anyways, the energy amplifier worked!"  
_ " _While that happened, David told his girlfriend that Mikan was forcing him to keep a secret, but she didn't show her true colors until the open house."_

" _And at the open house, Lenore Shimamoto told everyone she caused the Great Catastrophe! Downer!"  
_ " _Ouch. And Baymax and Hiro weren't there because they were 'Obake Hunting' but the Obake was a bot!"  
_ " _Dun-dun-dun!"  
_ " _Obake had a confrontation with Sally and Granville, there was more to the Fern kid's aunt and teacher of the school that he knew."  
_ " _Yeah and he mentioned some folks, who are those people?! And who's the person you mentioned!"  
_ " _Silly Fred, that's for future arcs."  
_ " _...You got me there. And Obake brought his villain friends to the school! And then he got away with the energy amplifier. Also Mikan knocked out Ari and kidnapped her own siblings! Shame on her! I had faith she was going to the good side!"_

" _Ari was the one who realized the reason Mikan worked for Obake was because she was his daughter! Not by blood but then again who's counting the blood and not-blood relations of this story? Because there's more to come!"  
_ " _The former or the latter?"  
_ " _It's for future arcs darnit Fred! And the viewers are too smart for their own good. We can't give them more breadcrumbs!"  
_ " _David and Sara weren't the only ones captured because Hiro got captured by none other than Baymax!"  
_ " _Gasp! And he took Hiro to Obake's evil lair."  
_ " _How will Hiro and the Fern kids escape Obake's clutches? Will Obake's plan succeed? Is Mikan going to do more evil things? And how will the rest of the Fern Family cope with knowing what Mikan has done?"  
_ " _Find out in the second-last chapter of Heroes of Flowers!"_

" _..Second last?"  
_ " _The epilogue is a separate chapter Fred! We need the building blocks to phase 2!"_

* * *

"Obake." Hiro gasped as Baymax dragged him over. "But how?"  
He gave no response, instead pointed to the screen. Hiro looked over and saw a clip of NBB on top of Baymax during the Krei-Tech attack, the small robot then opened his access port and placed the chip inside. "Noodle Burger Boy." Hiro sighed, he turned to his controlled companion. "I should have been there, but I was…"  
"Doing vital work." Obake walked up to him. "For me." Hiro flinched as he held up the amplifier. Obake made a gesture and Baymax stopped gripping him, he gasped and grabbed his wrist. He then watched as Obake placed the amplifier in a component next to the "City Rising" painting.

"Lenore Shimamoto?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a big fan."  
"More like obsessed." He turned around to see Mikan and the rest of the villains, the snow-haired girl was sharing sushi with Globby. "Amiright?"  
Obake just glared at her. "Right." Mikan chuckled. "Sorry, continue explaining your awesome plans, I wanna hear!"  
He cleared his throat and gestured to the screen, bringing up some blueprints. "Shimamoto built a rather unique machine. It created a star."  
Hiro's eyes widened. "A star?"  
"It collapsed quickly."  
"Th-that would create a giant shockwave!" Then he realized. "Wait. That's how she caused the Great Catastrophe."  
"Oh, you are sharp." Obake grinned. "But New San Fransokyo is so much larger now, so I need a bigger _bang_!" Hiro felt his jaw drop. "I improved on Shimamoto's inadvertent discovery. It should be quite a show."  
"Why didn't I listen to Granville?" If he was regretting not listening now, he surely was at this moment.  
"Because, like me, you were meant to push limits." Obake placed a hand on his shoulder, and then gestured to the screen. There was a simulation of the explosion on screen.

"But everyone will be-" Hiro gasped. "Aunt Cass, Ari, I have to warn them!" He tried to run out but Baymax held him back. He heard a sharp gasp from Mikan and looked up, her eyes were full of horror.

"If it's any comfort, even if they left now. They wouldn't make it out of the city in time." Obake told him, it only made the fear in his heart quicken.

Because of him, he'd lose the only family he had left.

* * *

"Wait..." Globby realized, turning to Momakase. "He's going to destroy San Fransokyo? Even Joe's Diner?"

_Twack!_

He got hit in the head with his sushi plate. "Your breath smells like garbage." Momakase walked off, NBB giggling at the interaction. The glob monster removed the plate from his face and blinked. A conflicting look on his face.

"Mikan." She looked up at the sound of her father's voice. "Now that you know what your future has in store, make sure your 'siblings' don't try to escape."  
"Yes father." Her voice was grief-stricken as she left the room. Hiro felt a glimmer of hope seeing the doubt on her face. _Maybe… maybe there's still good in her after-all._

"You will be quite safe here with me." He turned his attention back to Obake, he was working on a machine that NBB was sitting on. "Two visionaries, just hangin'."

"It's not about me." Hiro protested. "Y-you're gonna hurt millions of people."  
Obake turned to him. "Together, we're going to create a star." He felt a stone drop in his stomach at the words. "Congratulations, Hiro, that's some final project."

"No! Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

"Uch!" Obake scoffed. "That's Granville talking."

"Because Granville was right." Hiro frowned. "She's been right all along."

The man wasn't convinced. "Nonsense. Do you know why Icarus plunged to his doom?" Obake walked up to him.

What kind of question was that? "Because he flew too high." He deadpanned.

"Because he needed better wings." He felt fear as Obake grabbed his shoulders. "We have the ability to remake the world, starting with this city."  
He felt utter horror staring at the madman's cold blue eyes.

"The worthy survive."

* * *

"Why am I here?" Hiro demanded as Obake was leading him to a room that he was going to get stuffed in. "You have my energy amplifier. What more do you want? Uhg!" He felt NBB bump into him and he angrily shoved the robot back.

"A student."  
He stopped. "Sorry?"

Obake smirked at him. "Granville doesn't understand your potential, but I do."  
"W-what?" Hiro blinked.  
"When my new city is complete, it will be a paradise for learning and research. I can't wait to see what you'll accomplish, what we'll accomplish."  
He shoved the man's hand away from him. "What? You'd have to be crazy to think I'd ever join you!"  
"You're a bit worked up right now." Obake gestured to Baymax, opening a door. "I understand. Tragedy has molded us, intellect has driven us, now we stand at the doorway to greatness!"  
"You have your own kids!" Hiro pointed out. "Why not just pick Mikan as your student, s-she betrayed _us_ for you!"  
"Mikan sadly, has grown soft." Obake frowned. "My old friend Sal's teachings had gotten to her since her… accident."  
That caused Hiro to freeze. "Accident?"

"Oh it was a small mishap, a bit of error when it came to experimenting." Obake waved it off. "She was mostly unscathed but ever since then Mikan had remained holding herself back."  
Hiro growled. "She's your daughter. How could you say that about her?"

He ignored the statement. "Once it's all over, and there's nothing left to save, you'll see things differently."

"No, I won't." Hiro narrowed his eyes. "I'm not like you."

"Aren't you?" He gestured to the energy amplifier. Hiro paused, was he just as bad as Obake? Could he have ended up like him if he wasn't successful with the amplifier?  
But before he could respond, Baymax shoved him in the room and slammed the door. Obake then handed the amplifier to NBB. "Go, set the wheels in motion."

" _Oooh-ooh-ooh! An order off the secret menu. Yummy!_ " The small robot bounced out of view.

The man then turned his attention back to Hiro. "I don't deny my method is harsh, but winning tends to settle any arguments."

* * *

Obake had left half an hour ago. He only had the darkness and silence of the room to comfort him. _I can't let him win. I can't._ Hiro thought to himself, he then ran up against the door and tried busting it open.

_Clang!_

He only got severe pain in his shoulder as a result. "Ow!" As he tried instead pulling the door open, a purple blob coming from the ceiling caused him to yelp.

"Looking for a way out?" Globby questioned.

"What are you...?" Hiro questioned. "Wait. You're gonna help me escape?"  
Globby nodded. "Yeah. I knew Obake was crazy, but I thought it was a fun crazy. Plus, I don't want to destroy the city. All my friends live there. Felony Carl and, um… Felony Carl…"  
"That's the whole list, isn't it?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah." Globby then cleared his throat. "Anyways, I know the way out, but we'll have to get past Momakase. You might want to stay out of the way for that."  
"W-what about Mikan?" Hiro questioned. "And David and Sara... I can't leave them here!"  
"Don't worry." Globby told him. "I think Mikan will realize the same thing too, trust me on this one."  
Hiro huffed, then sighed. "Okay, let's get out of here."

* * *

Ari was a nervous wreck, the others were going to the tallest place in the city to look for large energy sources, hoping to find Hiro. All she could do was sit in the garage and pray, a part of her wanted to go but she knew that Hiro would be a wreck if anything bad happened to her.

_Oh, what did that stupid Obake want with my brother?_ She whined. _Why couldn't he have taken me instead?_

"Ari?" She gasped, turning around she saw her brother, standing right there soggy but safe.

"HIRO!" She nearly glomped him over as she squeezed him tight. "I was so, SO worried about you!" The tears started bursting from her cheeks.  
"You're squeezing me too tight." He squeaked.  
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" She stopped hugging him. "I just-I was so scared Obake was gonna kill you and-" Ari then paused, seeing the glob monster behind Hiro. "Behind you-"  
"He helped me escape!" Hiro interrupted before she could freak out. "I wouldn't have gotten out without him."  
"Really?" She turned to Globby, who nodded. "Okay. I believe you, but what about David and Sara?"  
"I know Mikan, she might have a loopy moral compass. But she doesn't want the city to get destroyed either." Globby told her. "She'll probably realize like I did that this is wrong, and break her siblings out."  
"Even if it goes against her dad?" Ari questioned.

There was a pause. "She's not a monster."

"We can focus on Mikan later. Where are the others?" Hiro asked her as he got his superhero suit on.

"At the highest point in the city looking for you." Ari explained. "They know Obake's plan he's-"  
"Trying to recreate the Great Catastrophe I know." Hiro grabbed his helmet, turning on the comm. "Guys, are you there?"

A chorus of " _Hiro!_ " was the response.

" _Where are you?_ " Wasabi questioned.

"Listen, Obake has control of Baymax." Ari gasped with horror. "He used him to capture me. I only escaped because of Globby."  
"I'm a good guy now!" The glob monster screamed into the comms.

" _Yay, Globby._ " Honey Lemon cheered. " _I knew you weren't all bad._ " Globby then grabbed the helm which caused Hiro to trip as it flew off his head.

"Hey, it's the tall girl! She believed in me all along!"

" _I'm really not that tall._ "

"Anyways." Hiro grabbed the comm back. "Globby and I will catch up to you, send us the location?"  
" _Sent._ " Gogo told him. " _Wait, I'm getting something. Hiro, it's in the Kirena Point lighthouse._ "  
"Copy that."

" _How are we going to get there?_ " Honey Lemon questioned.

"I'll go." Hiro spoke up. "I'll use Skymax." Then he turned to Globby. "Change of plans, Globby will head to your location, you guys stay there."  
"Okay." He nodded. "But what are you going to do?"

"Something I'll probably regret."

"Hey Hiro?" Ari tapped his shoulder, then pulled him into a quick hug, then hugged Globby, the glob monster lit up at the hug. "Good luck, I know you can do it."  
"Thanks Ari." He smiled, then they both left, to catch up with the others and stop Obake once and for all.

* * *

Mikan was conflicted.

She didn't know what to do. She was walking by her father, who had an emotionless look in his eyes.

"Dad?" She spoke up, trying to ignore the sound of his cold words about her. She did overhear what he said to Hiro, but pushed it out of her mind. "What about Mo-Sally and Steven?"

"What about them?" He replied.  
"Aren't you going to care? They'll get… I can grab them and-"  
"No." Obake shut the idea down. "David was needed because he has potential as well, and Momakase wanted her son safe. Sara, although I did not request you to grab her, she has some potential as well."  
 _What about me?_ Mikan questioned. _Don't you think I have potential?_

They stopped. Obake noticed Momakase was globbed to the wall, attempting to grab her katana. Obake walked over and peeled off the globs covering her mouth.

"The idiot glob helped the boy escape." She told them. Mikan gasped. _Globby?_ But she wasn't surprised, Globby was as shocked as her about the true nature of her dad's plan.

Obake growled, his face glowing violet. "Bring him back!" He demanded, cutting her loose.

"Uhg!" She wiped away the globs off of her. "Why bother?"  
"He needs guidance. My guidance." Mikan flinched at the harshness in his tone. She was silent as Momakase begrudgingly complied with the order.

"Are you done wasting my time?" Obake glared at her.

"N-no." She shivered.

"Then go back to making sure those two don't bust out."

"Okay..."

She felt empty as she walked down the hallways that were once home to her.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAH I MISS BAYMAX!"  
 _Glare._

"Sorry Skymax. Ha ha." Hiro was riding on top of Skymax on his way to the lighthouse, which was cackling purple with electricity. As he landed inside, he saw his amplifier, surrounded by electricity as it charged up. It was 90% charged and counting, he had to hurry. Rubbing his magnet locks, he tossed bolts of electricity as he reached for the amplifier. He reached the center and attempted to pull the amplifier off, but it was stuck.

"Come on!" He struggled. "Skymax!" He then felt Skymax wrap his arms around him and tried helping him remove the machine. As the countdown beeped, he concentrated with all of his strength. Until…

_Clang!_

Hiro yelped as the amplifier came loose, he caught the breath he didn't know he was holding. He flew out the window but Skymax held him in his arms, and he saw the electricity in the room dimmer. He felt a sigh of relief. "Oh! That was so close."

As they flew away, they failed to notice a bolt of electricity form in place of the amplifier, continuing to charge the machine up.

Skymax carried him to where the others were, he landed and held the amplifier in one hand. "Guys, I did it!"

"Oh yeah!" Fred tackled him. "Up high, Hiro!" They high-fived.

"Phew! Thank god!" Wasabi cheered.

"Great job, Hiro!" He felt Honey Lemon hug him tight.  
"Now we get Obake." Gogo grinned.

But the short celebration was ruined by Globby pointing to the lighthouse and saying. "Uh, what's that?"  
It was the lighthouse, cackling with purple electricity. The top exploded and a small ball of light emerged, clouds formed behind it, circling the star.

"The reaction became self-sustaining." Honey Lemon gasped.  
"Obake did it." Gogo's eyes were filled with horror.

"I was too late..." Hiro stared at the star.

"What do we do?" Fred turned to the others.

"Evacuate as many as we can." Gogo told them.

"Not enough time." Hiro had to think, they couldn't save everyone and the guilt would destroy them all. "We have to stop that shockwave."  
"There's no way to stop something with that much force." Wasabi protested.

"Yes there is: with an equal and opposite force." He explained.

"But we'd need something enormous." Honey Lemon's words gave him an idea.

A reckless idea, but one that was their only hope.

"Enormous? We got that." He grinned at the others.

They went to the docks as Fred revealed his Kentucky Kaiju to them. Hiro and Fred were already in the cockpit.

"If we use the amplifier to make the Kaiju super-jump into the bay-"  
"The giant wave could counteract the star's shockwave." Gogo realized.  
"Guys, the city needs us." Hiro told them. "We were the ones who decided to become superheroes. Now's the time to be super."  
"Hiro's right. We can do this." Honey Lemon nodded.

The lighthouse was by Fishtown, a feeling of dread was in their stomachs as Wasabi drove into the fray. But they had to be brave, for the city.

* * *

She had to be brave, for her siblings.

Mikan knocked on the door they were in and opened it. "David? Sara?"  
"Mika!" They both chorused, hugging her tight. But she pulled them away.

"My dad, his plan is to create a star, to recreate the Great Catastrophe and build his new city." She told them, they both had wide eyes and horrified looks. "I love my dad, but I love my home more. And I don't want to kill people, I just wanted to make him proud. I did hurt people though, especially you two." She couldn't look at them in the eyes. "If there's one thing I can do, it's get you two out of here. I just hope maybe I can earn your forgiveness one day."  
"Mika… you don't have to say sorry for feeling conflicted." Sara told her. "I'm angry sure, but you didn't have anyone to turn to."  
"Yeah!" David nodded. "I know how you feel when it comes to choosing loyalty to what's right and your family, but I'm here to help."  
She felt tears in her eyes. "Th-thanks guys." Mikan smiled. "Now, let's get out of here."

* * *

"Globby, Honey Lemon, you guys need to create a breaker to protect Fishtown. Wasabi, Gogo, keep people away from the shoreline." Hiro ordered through the comms. He watched from the cockpit as Globby stretched his body as a net, protecting the town from the bay, and Honey Lemon skidded up to him and tossed goop on the top for extra padding.

" _You're very brave Globby, good luck._ " He overheard the two on the comms/  
" _If I don't make it. Tell Felony Carl he was my... he was my whole list_."  
" _I don't know what that means, but I promise_." Hiro then saw Honey Lemon toss a goopy heart to Globby. He gave a small smile from afar. _Hopefully Globby makes it, he tanked Momakase slicing him into kibble like a pro._ Hiro had his work to do, he began piloting the Kaiju towards the water.

On the outskirts of town, Gogo was carrying some kids over to Wasabi and a school bus, with several other kids waiting anxiously. But as she went to rescue more kids, a graphene katana slicing forward caused her to scream and duck.

"Bring me the boy and you'll be spared." Momakase demanded.  
"Uhg!" Gogo groaned, but Wasabi leapt in front of her.

"Stay with the bus and protect the kids." He activated his plasma blades. "I'll take care of Momakase."  
"We both know you're no match for me." She taunted.

"Actually, since we last met, I watched some instructional fencing videos online so... bring it on."

And the two clashed.

* * *

"Not so fast!" Mikan paused, they were almost out, but in their way was her other sister.

"What do you think you're doing sis?!" Trina demanded. "Going against Father's plan?"  
"I don't want to be a part of this, not anymore!" Mikan growled, she would not heel. "I'm tired of being treated like a tool!"  
"I thought you liked the comparison." She flinched at her cold-blue eyes. "You really think anyone will trust you after what you did? There's no other place for you to go."  
Sara placed her hand on her shoulder. "She has a place with us."

"Yeah!" David nodded. "We're not gonna let you manipulate our sister anymore."  
"She was MY sister first you thieves!" Trina then pulled out a graphene knife, both of them flinched. "I won't let you take her away from ME!" She roared and charged at them, Sara stood in front of David, they both braced for impact.

_Wham!_

Mikan had punched Trina into the wall, stunning her. Both siblings were shocked. "I'm sorry Tri..." They knew how hard it was for Mikan to do that based on how broken she sounded.

But there was no time to question, they had to escape _now._

* * *

The Kaiju stomped into the bay, they were close to the star. "You ready for this?" Hiro turned to Fred.

"Yes, I am." Fred declared.  
" _No, you're not!_ " The cockpit opened as a small robot flew in. " _Not without Mini-Max at your side!_ "  
"Ho-ho! Sweet dramatic entrance, Mini-Max." Fred high-fived him. "You're getting the hang of this!"

Hiro then stopped the Kaiju, they were in front of the star, which had grown massive in size. He plugged in the amplifier. "When that star implodes, we jump."

* * *

Wasabi ducked out of the way from the katana. He was backed into an alley. His blades were rooted in the ground, Momakase struck. He felt his shoulder blades and locks of his hair fall. "Ahh! My dreads!" He yelped. Then realized one of his plasma blades was destroyed.

To his surprise, Momakase tossed one of her katanas to the side. He activated his remaining blade, bracing for impact.

_Clang!_

"Woah!" He ducked as a disk bounced from the alleyway and hit Momakae, a net shooting out and wrapping around her wrists. Then he saw Gogo tossed another disk that wrapped her legs, the crowd of kids behind her cheered.

"Yes!" He pumped up a fist.

"I got bored waiting on the bus." She told him.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

" _Wow, mister, your plans seem to be working._ " NBB was next to Obake as he worked on the computer, behind them was the mind-controlled Baymax.

"Seems?" He narrowed his eyes at the robot.

" _I bet a song will…_ " He then shut off the robot, and turned to Baymax.

"Perhaps you'll be better company." He clicked a button that deactivated the mind-control.  
Baymax whirred. " _Hello, I am Baymax._ " He attempted to move but couldn't. " _I am unable to move._ "  
"Well, I can't have you running off, but I thought a chat might be nice.

Baymax just stared at him. "I'll be remembered forever because of what's about to happen. Impressive, isn't it?"  
" _You are in need of medical care._ "  
"Oh, this?" He touched the side of his face, which glowed purple. "A souvenir from a childhood mishap."  
" _The damage is significant and growing._ " Baymax pointed out. " _It is affecting your temporoparietal junction_."  
"The part of the brain that allows one to tell right from wrong. I know."  
" _Your condition is treatable._ "  
He laughed. "Why would I want to do that? It's been quite liberating."

Baymax titled his head at him.

* * *

"Is it time now? Now? How about now? Ooh, I know, now!" Fred was anxious, he wanted to get this right, but was trying to hide his fear with excitement.

The star whooshed as it got large enough.  
"Now!" Hiro activated the amplifier and buckled up. "It's Kaiju cannonball time."  
As they jumped in the air, Fred turned to Hiro. "I just want you to know that being a superhero with you is an honor."  
The others said words of encouragement, words of confidence. Hiro tried to apologize for the whole thing being his fault, but the others told him that they got through mistakes as a team. He could nod in agreement as Kaiju got high enough into the stratosphere, curled into a ball position, and began crashing down.

The star rumbled, then shrank.

Then exploded.

The Kaiju crashed into the water. Hitting the bottom. The wind whooshed as the waves began crawling on top of the explosion. _Come on come on come on please work._

He watched in relief as the waves swallowed the explosion.

"I'm questioning all my life choices."  
"You've got this Globby!"

Globby braced himself as the waves came lurching forward. He held his ground, a few geyers splashed through him but Honey Lemon was ready to seal any leaks. He held his ground, determined.

And then the waves resided. "It worked!" He chuckled.

Honey Lemon squealed, hugging him. "Oh, I knew you could do it!"

* * *

"Yes!" Wasabi cheered from the bus, the students were clapping. He felt the hand of the little girl who clung to him let go, her worries ceased when she saw they were going to be alright.

Gogo smiled as she held a mother cat in her arms, the feline's kittens squeaking with joy as they were safe.

* * *

The only person who was not safe was Obake, rocks cluttered as he saw what happened on the monitors. "Hiro. How could he possibly…?"  
" _Hiro is clever and resourceful._ " Baymax pointed out.

He saw the screens close, his plans falling apart one by one. "My new city. My dream. They still remember Shimamoto, they revere her."

" _My scan indicates that this is sustaining damage._ " Baymax told him.

"This wouldn't have mattered, I would've lived forever. The man who remade the city into something perfect." He shut his eyes, then turned to Baymax. He opened his access port and tossed his chip out.

With control of his body again, Baymax patted his shoulder. " _There, there._ "  
"You should go." Obake told him.

" _You are in danger._ "  
"Yes, I'm aware of that!" He yelled.

" _Do I have your permission to help you?_ "  
"Go to him! Go to Hiro!" Obake commanded, he heard equipment crash. "Tell him I still think we would've done great things together. And tell my daughter, tell my Mika..."  
Baymax blinked.

"That I still think she has potential deep down if she allows herself to embrace it."  
" _I am a personal healthcare companion. I cannot leave until you say you are satisfied with your care._ "  
He sat down in his chair. "I am satisfied with my care."

Obake didn't turn around as he heard Baymax leave. His last moments alone were filled with regrets, things he wished he did better. Things he wished he could've done with his children had he not pushed them away for some "greater purpose." He forced his Mika to hurt her family and gave Trina no other goals than to serve as a minion for his work. He even treated NBB like garbage despite the little robot looking up to him as a father! He wished he could tell both of his daughters that they didn't need to follow them, that he just wanted them to be there for each other. But seeing the escape on camera meant that his daughters would never be on the same sides again, a sad ending to this broken family.

Then the rocks came tumbling over him.

* * *

"Everything's jammed!" Hiro turned to his right, they were stuck in the Kaiju. Fred tried opening one of the eyes but they were all jammed. He shook his head at Fred, there was no hope in sight.

Then, he saw an arm grab one of the eyes and toss it into the air. Hiro gasped with joy.

" _I was alerted to your need for-_ "  
"Baymax!" He jumped on the robot, hugging him tight, he could only cry with joy.

" _Hiro._ " Baymax hugged him back. Fred joined in on the hug as well.

" _We are still stinking!_ " Mini-Max pointed out.

" _It is time to go._ "

They flew to the shore where their friends (and Globby) were waiting in anticipation. They landed on a nearby rock. "Oh, you guys are okay!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. As Hiro got off of Baymax he got hugged by her again.

"Nice job, genius." Gogo walked up to him. "You helped the bad guy create a star."  
"I know." He sighed. But she playfully punched him on the shoulder.  
"You also saved the city."  
"Thanks, but none of this would have happened if I hadn't been so… me."  
" _Tadashi was right._ " They looked up at Baymax. " _You are a good kid._ "  
Then they all hugged, with Globby even joining in! The day was saved, they were going to be okay.

* * *

" _It was a countdown to catastrophe, but thanks once again to Big Hero 6 I am fine. And the city is, too. Which is what I was worried about. Who are these mysterious do-gooders?_ "  
"Meow!" Ari smiled at Mochi, who was trying to calm Cass down. As much as she wished to tell her Hiro was fine, they had to see him in person. Just her luck, her brother and Baymax walked into the cafe. She stood to the side as Cass hugged him tight. And chuckled as he tried lying that he was at the school, and when their aunt tried asking if there was something he wasn't telling her, he started rambling about food.

"Hey Hiro!" She then walked up to him, hugging him softly as if to not irritate any injuries. "And hey Baymax. I was worried about you. Both of you."

" _Hello Ari._ " Baymax waved to her. " _We are alright._ "

"Yeah." Hiro smiled at her. "We're fine."

* * *

Hiro knew what he had to do the next day. He walked into school, making a beeline for Granville's office. He heard her "come in," and walked inside.  
Hiro entered the office, amplifier in hand. "So, about my final project, I'm-"  
"Getting an A." She showed him her screen, which were the photos the students they rescued took of them. "For showing ingenuity and for saving the city."

"Thank you, Professor Granville. Uh, for everything." He stared down at the amplifier. "For trying to teach me about limits. I think I get it now." He then handed the device to her.

"It's a lesson I've had to relearn a few times myself, Mr. Hamada." Granville told him. "Everyone makes mistakes."  
He smiled as she placed the amplifier in a safe next to her desk. "But don't get too comfortable. Next semester will be even more of a challenge. I hope you can handle it."  
Hiro nodded. "Professor, how is Sally? Did Mikan..."

Granville then showed him another photo, the photo of the Fern Family, with Mikan in the middle being hugged by her family. "Ms. Ferns made the right choice in the end." She told him. "She wishes to make amends next semester."  
"That's good." He nodded. He might not forgive her now, but he wanted to be friends with her again in the future. Hiro then proceeded to exit.

"Hiro..." He stopped at the door. "Do you know what happened to him?"

He could only stare back and frown.

" _I do not detect Aken comma Bob._ "  
" _He could''t have survived this. It's impossible._ "  
" _As you have said, nothing is impossible._ "

"Baymax and I tried looking for him last night, we found nothing but..." Hiro paused. "Perhaps he's still out there, but we don't know." He then gestured to his eyes. "I'm so tired the reason you can't see the bags under my eyes is because I'm wearing make-up."

Both student and teacher smiled at the joke. "Thank you for telling me." Granville sighed. "Enjoy the rest of your semester break."  
"Thanks." He smiled as he left. "I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was CtC! Not much change except that part with Mikan... homegirl may be wicked but she ain't a madwoman. 
> 
> Though her actions will have consequences : )))
> 
> Also rip Obake. He did truly care about his kids in this fic, but also he made the wrong choses that is gonna screw them over. And he can't take them back if they wanted to, so sad : (


	57. Epilogue: Hiro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one path ends, another begins.

"I'm really glad you're alright Ari, the whole star thing was scary but it would kill me if you got hurt!"  
"Thanks for your concern June, but I was safe in the cafe." Ari chuckled. "I'm good."  
It was another one of her visits to see High Voltage, she was now talking to Juniper, who was very worried about her health after the whole incident with the star.  
"Yeah, but are you okay mentally?" Juniper asked. "That kind of stuff messes you up."  
"I'm fine." She waved it off. "I was mostly worried about my brother because he wasn't in the cafe and was at school and god forbid anything happen to him-" She paused seeing her friend's concerned look. "We're fine. Everything's fine."  
Juniper sighed. "That's good."

"Anyways." Ari cleared her throat, "I actually came to tell you that I'm gonna be out of town for a while. My brother finished his first semester at college so Aunt Cass is taking us to New York to visit some cousins."  
The blonde paused, her expression unreadable. "Oh. So I won't be expecting any visits for awhile?"  
"Yeah." Ari chuckled. "But I'm excited to go to New York! All I heard was there was good pizza and superheroes too, I hope to make a good impression on my new cousins."  
"I think you will." Juniper told her. "You're very good at making good impressions."  
"Aww thanks!" Ari beamed."  
"Just be careful, New Yorkers are vicious."

"What why?"  
"Oh y'know! I've heard a few stories, and seen a few shows, New York amiright?"  
Ari guessed it was a joke. "Yeah, I guess so."

She greeted her friend goodbye and headed outside, where Hiro was waiting for her.

"Time to tell the others about...?" She gestured.  
"Yep." He nodded. "They're by the park."  
"Let's get this over with." She sighed.

* * *

Steven took a day off from work, he normally didn't request ones from Krei since they often got vetoed. But you tend to take exceptions when your kids get caught up in a villain scheme, his boss found an understanding considering the last villain scheme Krei-Tech was involved in.

He still thought back to when Granville called his wife, explaining what happened to their children after the open house and they could not find them.

" _What if they were-_ "  
" _Sal, David's birth mother was part of that group. She wouldn't hurt him or his sisters._ "

" _Bobby did this, I know he did. I saw him at that open house."  
_ " _You did?!"_ Then the phone rang and Granville confirmed the worst.

He was a father, although Mikan wasn't born from him or Sally it didn't matter. They were horrified that she went along with Bobby's plans and even kidnapped her siblings! "We just have to hope Mikan makes the right choice." He told her.

"I know." Sally might've been angry, furious, and a raging inferno of worry and anger at whoever hurt her babies, but she wouldn't ever take that anger on their children even when they were in the wrong.

Then Mikan returned to them, bringing her siblings too. He remembered he pulled all three of them into a hug, his tears staining their shirts and Sally's hand that wasn't gripping their oldest was holding his arm so he wouldn't collapse from the relief that they were alright.

" _I'm so sorry… I didn't think my dad's plans would hurt any of you. But I was just ignoring the truth because I didn't want to believe it. I'm sorry for making you guys worry and hurting you, especially you David. I'm sorry for everything._ " Mikan had pulled away from the hug with tears in her eyes. " _I wouldn't be surprised if you want to kick me out, I would kick me out too…_ "  
How could she ask them that? " _Mikan, you always have a place with us no matter what you do._ " Sally told her, pulling Mikan into another hug. " _It's okay now…_ "  
That had caused another group hug, but Mikan still had more words to say. She explained everything, and that she wanted to heal and get better. That maybe she couldn't take it back but she could try to be a better person from it, and they'd help her.  
Which made him more glad that Globby fellow didn't bring up Mikan at all when he gave his live report of the whole story, about Obake being responsible for certain incidents (thank god Sara didn't work at _that_ Noodle Burger joint) and him wanting to make amends, he seemed like a good person on the inside at least.

And as Steven awaited for his wife and children to get done from their errands and work, he'd make sure they all had a home to come back to. That was what a Ferns did, he'd stand strong to carry them to safety.

* * *

At the park, Ari took a deep breath. _You got this Ari, you got this._ Time to tell the others the truth.

"So." She looked up at the others, Hiro was giving her a thumbs up. Fred knew what was gonna happen and was excited. Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon were confused. "I found out this thing I can do."  
"Thing?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.

Ari checked to see if anyone else was in the park, when the coast was clear, she took out a water bottle. And bended the contents out to create a floating bubble.

"Woahhh..." Wasabi gasped.  
"That's not what I expected." Gogo and the other stared with wide eyes.

Honey Lemon reached for the bubble, touching it. "So you have water powers?"  
"Yep." Ari placed the water back into the bottle. "I was going to tell you after Wasabi's birthday because I didn't want to steal all the attention from his special day-"

"Understandable." He nodded.  
"But then stuff happened so I guess now's a good time." Ari sighed. "You guys are the only people who know, well Aunt Cass and Mochi know but they're cool about it."

"They're not the only ones." She froze up. Turning around the group saw Mikan walking up to them.  
"H-hey guys." Mikan sheepishly chuckled. But she got glares in return.  
"What do you want, Mikan?" Gogo demanded.  
"...To say sorry."

Everyone except Hiro had surprised reactions. "Huh?" Ari frowned. "Sorry isn't going to make us forget you spied on us, made rude comments, oh and also let Yama lock me up!"  
"I didn't find out about that after you got out." She defended. "But yeah, sorry isn't going to fix it." Mikan looked down. "I wanted to tell you guys I feel regret over helping my dad nearly destroy the city..."  
"Do you know that your dad is...?" Hiro questioned, she nodded sadly.  
"Yeah, Baymax told me." Mikan sighed. "I know it's not your fault. I'm lucky Sally and Steven and my siblings forgave me and took back in. I'm not going to betray their trust, or yours ever again. I want to be a better person next semester, and I hope one day we can be friends again."  
"I hope so too." Honey Lemon flashed her a hopeful smile.  
"Thanks for being honest." Ari sighed. "You didn't tell your siblings our secrets, did you?"  
"No!" Mikan shook her head. "David and Sara don't know about Big Hero 6. But they figured out your kidnapping on their own, they're not gonna bug you about it. Don't worry."  
"What did you say about the open house? About a villain kidnapping me?"  
"I don't know her name." She explained. "But Pops showed me a clip of what happened."  
"Can you tell me?" Ari pleaded, "I wanna know what happened."

"Well, this scientist lady, I don't know her name but it started with a K. This hero person was carrying you to safety and that made the lady mad. She was like 'give me back that important tool' as if she didn't think of you as a person." Mikan huffed.  
"I wanna know where this lady lives." Hiro angrily cracked his knuckles, Ari  
"So dad had you locked up because he was curious about the reason that lady wanted you. She was chasing some cloaked person in white, they seemed to know you I guess. But the clip showed you unconscious, and once the hero in white got away Pops sent Yama and some robots to chase her off and then-"  
"I woke up in the cell." Ari scrunched her nose. "I was hoping it'd jog up some memories but nope! Nothing! But I think that lady is the same one who caused my amnesia, 'cause when I visited Sycorax, Liv told me my amnesia wasn't natural."  
"Speaking of Sycorax." Mikan's eyes lit up. "I got an internship there, so I'm hoping to redeem myself by doing good work. And if I find out more about your amnesia, I'll tell you, alright?"  
"Alright!" And to her surprise Ari wrapped her into a hug. "I forgive you Mika! You're a good person after all!"

"Hey! Only my siblings can call me Mika!"  
The rest of the gang giggled at the heartwarming interaction. While they didn't forgive the snow-haired girl yet, they would one day.

* * *

Elsewhere, Mikan's two other siblings were pulling a page out of Ari's book and doing a prison visit.

But there was no warmth in this visit. Sara felt her brother's hand tighten his grip against hers. "You okay?"

"I really want to do this another day." David huffed. "I wanna spend time with Sienna since both our semester's are over."

She grinned. "Wanting to spend alone time with your girlfriend, hmmm?"  
"Sara!" He blushed furiously, but then laughed. "Very funny."  
"It puts a smile on your face, it works." Sara chuckled, they then stopped walking. "We're here."  
They were in front of a cell, reinforced with bars that gave a small shock at anything that touched them or tried to escape. A pair of mint-green eyes was staring at both of them.

"Well, well, well." Momakase greeted them.

"Nice greeting for someone who tried to murder the city and _kill_ some of my parents." David hissed, Momakase opened her mouth to speak but he continued. "You don't get to decide to be my 'mom' again and just get rid of the ones who took care of me for 14 years! You were only present for 6 of them!"  
"David, I-"  
"And Mika told me you guys weren't even going to grab _Sara!_ Forget the whole city, you want me to just pack up, let everyone I love die including _my own sister?!_ I don't give a damn about blood-ties, you hurt someone close to me, you're done!"  
"He's really mad at you if you can't tell." Sara pointed out. "Got any extra fuel to dig your grave?" She was being vindictive and "poking the bear" so to speak. But the trauma of escaping Obake's lair left her to channel her more sarcastic side.

Momakase was stunned to be yelled at by her son, his words seemed to strike a chord within her.

"I had done it for you." She told him, "but you're right. I don't get to decide what's best for you and what isn't. I'm sorry I failed you, David."

Her words seemed to affect her brother as well.

"I acknowledge your apology Mother." David sighed. "But I don't forgive you, not yet."

"When I forgive you, when I want to see you again, I'll come back. That's a promise."

"Okay." She nodded.

"I wanna go home Sara." He leaned onto her shoulder, sparing a sympathetic look to his mother. Sara and David left the jail cell, leaving the sushi chef/mercenary alone to her thoughts.

* * *

Sally entered the dean's office with a sigh. "Professor Granville?"

"Sally." Granville greeted. "I heard about what happened with Mikan, I'm glad that poor girl at least has a family."  
"Yeah." She sighed. "I don't blame her for what she did, I can't believe I didn't notice Bobby manipulating his own daughter sooner. At least David and Sara can support her and I hope her friends forgive her soon."  
"We can only hope." Granville glanced at the window. "Earlier today, Mikan visited and asked if she was going to be expelled from the school."  
"Really?" Sally frowned. "For what?"  
"For what happened at the open house." The dean explained. "Ms. Ferns explained her own part in the attack and her regrets over it, reminded me of how another Ferns took responsibility for everything that happened on campus."  
"Well…" Sally sheepishly chuckled. "I was a Fernandes back then, and I was going through some things because of the whole amnesia problem." Then her gaze darkened. "And it seems another girl has that problem too, and from what Mikan told me it's from the same source."  
"Yes, that is deeply concerning." Granville frowned. "Bless that poor girl's heart."  
"Mhmm. At least Hiro can be there for her, just like how I had Steven, Wendy, Trevor, and Bobby…" Sally sighed. "I want to remember him as Bobby the introverted teen genius who let us into his space and filled us with hopeful ideas of a better world, not Obake the man who didn't care who got hurt as long at it benefited him."

"I agree." Granville frowned. "It is always heartbreaking when someone you know turns out to be awful."  
"Are you hiding any skeletons in your closet any soon?"  
"Oh hush." Both women smiled.

* * *

"Ari?"  
"Hiro!" She stood up from the docks, "what are you doing here?"  
"What are you doing here?" He shot the question back at her.  
"Well, I'm watching the sunset." She smiled. "It's nice, I used to do this with my parents, wanna watch it with me?"  
"Sure." He smiled and sat next to her. "I'm glad the city's okay."  
"Me too." Ari hummed. "I find this place home now. I found you after-all."  
Hiro chuckled. "Wow. Cheesy much?"  
"Hey!" She playfully punched his shoulder.

"Thinking about what Mikan said?" Hiro noted her blue eyes darkening.  
"A little." She sighed. "But I don't want to go looking for trouble, that lady she described sounds scary, scarier than Obake."  
"I think you're exaggerating." Hiro gestured.  
"I get the feeling she was responsible for my parent's death." She sighed. "Maybe because of my water abilities, maybe I was in a freak accident after they died and it just created them. And maybe that lady was trying to use me as a weapon."  
He paused. "Oh." He knew from Mikan that whatever group she belonged to was laying low, maybe they'd show up sooner or later, but sent chills down his spine.  
"Yeah, dark." Ari dipped her feet into the water. "But I find it easier to move on each day, because I have my loving brother and friends by my side." She smiled at him.

He felt touched by her kind words. "Aww sis." Hiro chuckled.

"That and I'm also nervous about going to public school for the first time, how did you do it?!"  
"Well you're going to a nicer school than I did." Hiro patted her on the back. "And you have Rachel, and you're really smart. And if you need any help with homework or projects let me know."  
"Okay, okay." She chuckled. "Thanks for the overbearing."  
"You're welcome." They then started giggling.

The two of them then enjoyed the sunset together. The semester was hard, Hiro had faced villains and college, Ari had faced amnesia and loss.

There were more hardships to come, but as long as the two of them were together they'd triumph.

No matter what came their way.

_Stay tuned for Heroes of Flowers: Tempest of Hearts!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Dramatic sobbing* My babies already got done one season. *blows nose into a tissue* I'm so proud
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, or even mentioned this story to any friends. I honestly wasn't going to write a fic about my little story, but seeing such tales in the fandom about the gang inspired me.
> 
> Epilouge might be a little whiplashy but its just me trying to wrap up the story in a neat little bow.
> 
> And yeah... about that trip to New York? There will be a little fic about it before I start posting Season 2, kids could use a relaxing break before being yeeted into the monster arc.
> 
> And y'all might see some familiar faces... hehehehehehehe : ) But "Family Vacation" will be posted in early 2021. So that gives me time to post some extra HOF content on my tumblr ( spyrkle4).
> 
> I said I was gonna do a character QnA after I got done this fic (at least to my readers). Which I will! But if you want to ask any of the characters any questions, you can on Tumblr! Or if you wanna ask me any questions.
> 
> There's also a lot I wanna do like edit the chapters, edit "Family Vacation" before I post,,, edit "Tempest of Hearts" and maybe write SOME Big Hero 6 fanfiction that's not a one-shot or HOF-related. But that's for another day!
> 
> Thanks to all of you who've stuck with me and "The Ferns and Nerds" feel free to join the Hamada family for a "Family Vacation" January 2021. And be prepared for the "Tempest of Hearts" when they return to San Fransokyo for the new semester.
> 
> Have a "cat"tastic day my readers!

**Author's Note:**

> *smiles* hello readers! Welcome to my fanfic! I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm having fun!  
> I could give a lengthy description but to sum this up yes this is a bit of an "OC-insert" but with more than 1 OC added! Updates on Saturday! And leave a nice review I could use some critiques/emotional support <:D


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